UC Berkeley

Exceptionally high surface area and ordered nanopores of a metal-organic framework (MOF) are exploited to encapsulate and homogeneously disperse a considerable amount of phosphotungstic acid (PTA). When combined with platinum nanoparticles positioned on the external surface of the MOF, the construct shows a high catalytic activity for hydroisomerization of n-hexane, a reaction requiring hydrogenation/dehydrogenation and moderate to strong Brønsted acid sites. Characterization of the catalytic activity and acidic sites as a function of PTA loading demonstrates that both the concentration and strength of acidic sites are highest for the catalyst with the largest amount of PTA. The MOF construct containing 60% PTA by weight produces isoalkanes with 100% selectivity and 9-fold increased mass activity as compared to a more traditional aluminosilicate catalyst, further demonstrating the capacity of the MOF to contain a high concentration of active sites necessary for the isomerization reaction.