Solvothermal synthesis of NH2-MIL-125(Ti) from circular plate to octahedron

Abstract

The MOF material NH₂-MIL-125(Ti) was synthesized through the solvothermal method, and the morphology can be controlled by simply modulating the concentration of the reactants during crystallization, which ranges from circular plate through tetragon to octahedron. All samples were characterized by SEM, XRD, FT-IR, UV Raman spectra, TGA, Ar adsorption/desorption and UV-vis spectra. In situ XRD results show that this Ti-incorporated MOF is highly thermostable until 290 °C. It is interesting to find that the light response of NH₂-MIL-125(Ti) crystals is closely related to their morphology, and the absorption edges of different morphologies range from 480 nm to 533 nm with band gaps of 2.6 to 2.3 eV, making them potential candidates for photocatalytic applications.