Facile synthesis of a Cu-based metal-organic framework from plastic waste and its application as a sensor for acetone

Abstract

A novel strategy is developed to solvothermally synthesize a Cu-based metal-organic framework (MOF), known as a copper terephthalate MOF, using terephthalic acid (TPA) as a linker which was extracted from small pieces of waste soft-drink bottles via alkaline hydrolysis. The extracted TPA as well as the obtained MOFs were all characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, ultravioletevisible spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The Cu-MOF was applied to the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as acetone (detection limit of similar to 20 ppm) based on the photocatalytic principle under ultraviolet irradiation at room temperature. Cu-MOF procured from plastic waste is thus validated as a promising material for practical sensing applications.