Morphology-Controllable Graphene-Modified Cu-Benzene-1,3,5 Tricarboxylic Acid Composites for Volatile Organic Compounds and CO2 Adsorption Property

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the one kind of pollution, which lead to the severe atmospheric contamination problem. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and graphene are promising candidates to collect VOCs. In this study, composites which consist of graphene sheets and Cu-BTC (benzene-1,3,5 tricarboxylic acid) are prepared by the hydrothermal method to adsorb VOCs and CO. Moreover, the morphology of the resulting graphene material in the composites can be controlled by adjusting the pH value, reaction time and surfactant during the hydrothermal process, which further determines the adsorption ability for different gas molecules. According to the pore distribution features of various composites, the morphology of graphene exerts a fatal influence on the observed adsorption performances. Furthermore, the polarity of the as-prepared composites is another important determinant to selective adsorption for various VOCs. The stability of these composites under high temperature is also tested, and the results demonstrate that the adsorbents can be used in a wide temperature range. Moreover, the large BET areas and high stability of the composites in the water endow them a potential application in the sewage clarification field. After the corresponding optimization, the adsorption amounts of methanol and ethanol reach 13.6[Formula: see text]mmol[Formula: see text]g[Formula: see text] and 9.68[Formula: see text]mmol[Formula: see text]g[Formula: see text], respectively.