Defective metal-organic frameworks-based composites with excellent separation properties were obtained. The mesoporous metal-organic frameworks were selected and deliberately designed to be deficient, and they were then combined with polyacrylamide to be modified on the surface of silica microspheres. The prepared composites were employed as mixed-mode stationary phase in chromatographic separation, and they were compared to both conventional microporous metal-organic framework-based columns and commercial columns. It showed improved selectivity and retention toward both hydrophilic and hydrophobic analytes, allowing for the effective separation of nine nucleosides and nucleobases, eight alkaloids, six antibiotics, and five alkylbenzenes. Additionally, the column was used to effectively separate the active ingredients in the daring substance of honeysuckle, revealing a wide range of possible applications. For the same batch of analytes, three batches of distinct materials demonstrated consistent separation effects. It also demonstrated excellent chromatographic repeatability and stability, with relative standard deviations of the retention time and/or column efficiency being found to be less than 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively. The dispersive hierarchically porous composites were demonstrated to be effective in chromatographic separation, and the results expanded the potential uses of defective MOFs with dispersed multi-level pores.
Keywords: Chromatographic separation; Hierarchically mesoporous MOFs; MOF-818; Mixed-mode; Stationary phase.
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.