Physicochemical correlation of surface area and porosity of multi-layer assembly of HKUST-1 over zirconium phosphate nano-platform: In-depth study of carbon capture mechanism

Zirconium phosphate (ZrP) as a supporting nanoplatform was synthesized for deposition of layer-by-layer HKUST-1 up-to 100 layers. SEM images revealed the smooth morphology of nanoplatform and aggregation of HKUST-1 on the surface of ZrP. XRD of ZrP showed sharp peaks attributed to the crystallinity of ZrP which is fading with the growth of layers up-to some extent and then reappeared due to multi layers growth of crystalline HKUST-1. Thermal gravimetric analysis validate the considerable thermal stability of the material. Surface features were investigated extensively through BET analyzer which showed that surface area and pore volume was increased with layer by layer growth of HKUST-1 on the surface of ZrP and determined 1195 m2/g and 0.44 cm3/g for 100 layers respectively while pore size was decreased significantly ranging from 41.2 to 24.07 Å due to well formation with successive increment of layers. Taking into account of these parameters, the desired characteristics of HKUST-1/ZrP were successfully achieved which was the core objective of present study. This approach disclosed that these characteristics can be customized accordingly by further deposition which will be worth considerable for carbon capture. Calculations validate the formation of HKUST-1/ZrP and potency for CO2 physico-chemical adsorption with binding energy of 1.71 eV which is a promising step toward the net-zero world.