Facile Synthesis of UiO-66(Zr) Using a Microwave-Assisted Continuous Tubular Reactor and Its Application for Toluene Adsorption

UiO-66(Zr) has been widely used for many applications due to its high surface area and excellent chemical and thermal stabilities. Conventionally, UiO-66(Zr) has been prepared in an autoclave by solvothermal synthesis, which requires a lengthy reaction time (typically 24 h) while only producing a small amount of product. In this work, a larger quantity of UiO-66(Zr) was rapidly produced in a continuous tubular reactor under microwave irradiation. The metal salt and organic linker precursor solutions were continuously introduced into the tubular reactor by a microfluidic syringe pump system. The results showed that UiO-66(Zr) was produced with a high yield, porosity, and crystallinity within a short reaction time of 10 min. The characteristics of UiO-66(Zr) were affected by the reaction temperature, residence time, and modulator concentration. The UiO-66(Zr) prepared under the optimum conditions was evaluated for gaseous toluene adsorption at various temperatures.