Cu MOF-based catalytic sensing for formaldehyde

Abstract

Developing a catalyst with a uniform and well-defined crystal structure is very important to establish a catalytic sensing system with high efficiency. In this work, Cu-BTC metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) without a crystalline CuO or Cu₂O phase were successfully synthesized by using a low temperature synthesis method, and the as-prepared Cu-BTC MOFs were found to have outstanding catalytic activity towards the traditional oxidase substrate, o-phenylenediamine (OPD), to generate a colored and fluorescent product. The results of the kinetics analysis revealed that the catalytic behavior of Cu-BTC MOFs towards OPD could well follow the typical Michaelis–Menten equation, indicative of a strong affinity between Cu-BTC MOFs and OPD. On the basis of these findings, taken together the condensation reaction between the –CHO group of formaldehyde and the –NH₂ group of OPD to form Schiff base compounds, a novel Cu-BTC MOF-based catalytic sensing system for detecting gaseous formaldehyde could be successfully established.