The structures and applications of metal-organic framework materials (MOFs) have been attracting great interest due to the wide variety of possible applications, for example, chemical sensing, separation, and catalysis. N-[3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylenediamine is grafted on a porous SiO₂ disk to obtain a modified porous SiO₂ disk. A large-scale, continuous, and compact Cu₃(BTC)₂ membrane is prepared based on a modified porous SiO₂ disk. The chemical structure, surface morphology, thermal stability, mechanical stability, and gas separation performance of the obtained Cu₃(BTC)₂ membrane is analyzed and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and a gas separation experiment. The results show that the prepared Cu₃(BTC)₂ membrane has an intact morphology with its crystal. It is continuous, compact, and intact, and has good thermal stability and mechanical stability. The result of the gas separation experiment shows that the Cu₃(BTC)₂ membrane has a good selectivity of hydrogen and can be used to recover and purify hydrogen.
Keywords: Cu3(BTC)2 membrane; N-[3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylenediamine; gas separation; modified; porous SiO2 disk.