Morphology-Controllable Synthesis of Metal Organic Framework Cd₃[Co(CN)₆]₂·nH₂O Nanostructures for Hydrogen Storage Applications

In this paper, a potential strategy for increasing the hydrogen sorption has been demonstrated by using the nanostructure of metal organic framework. Prussian Blue analogue (PBA) Cd 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] 2 · n H 2 O nanocubes and octahedrons were successfully obtained at room temperature in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), respectively. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Detailed proof indicated that the synthetic parameters such as surfactant, the ratio of different solvents (water and ethanol) play crucial roles in the morphology and size of the nanoparticles. The fine-detailed information about porous structures of the samples has also been studied using the Brunauer–Emmet–Teller isotherm. Most importantly, two kinds of nanostructures both display high adsorption on H 2 and CO 2, showing enhanced adsorption properties compared with the bulk materials. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the synthesis of Cd 3 [Co(CN) 6 ] 2 nanomaterials and their H 2, CO 2 adsorption applications at the nanoscale.