Pickering emulsions stabilized by a metal-organic framework (MOF) and graphene oxide (GO) for producing MOF/GO compositesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7sm01567d

• Main Authors: Zhang, Fanyu, Liu, Lifei, Tan, Xiuniang, Sang, Xinxin, Zhang, Jianling, Liu, Chengcheng, Zhang, Bingxing, Han, Buxing, Yang, Guanying
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1744-683X; 1744-6848
• DOI: 10.1039/c7sm01567d

Herein we demonstrate the formation of a novel kind of Pickering emulsion that is stabilized by a Zr-based metal-organic framework (Zr-MOF) and graphene oxide (GO). It was found that the Zr-BDC-NO 2 and GO solids assembling at the oil/water interface can effectively stabilize the oil droplets that are dispersed in the water phase. Such a Pickering emulsion offers a facile route for fabricating Zr-MOF/GO composite materials. After removing water and oil by freeze drying from Pickering emulsions, the Zr-MOF/GO composites were obtained and their morphologies, structures and interaction properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, respectively. The influences of the concentration of GO and Zr-MOF on the emulsion microstructures and the properties of the MOF/GO composites were studied. Based on experimental results, the mechanisms for the emulsion formation by Zr-MOF and GO and the as-synthesized superstructures of the Zr-MOF/GO composite were proposed. It is expected that this facile and tunable route can be applied to the synthesis of different kinds of MOF-based or GO-based composite materials. The Pickering emulsion stabilized by metal-organic framework (MOF) and graphene oxide (GO) offers a facile route for fabricating MOF/GO composite with a macroporous network structure.