A porous open-framework titanium oxophenylphosphate

Highly porous titanium oxophenylphosphate (TPP-1) has been synthesized hydrothermally at 448 K using phenylphosphonic acid (PPA) as the organophosphorus source without the aid of any template or structure-directing agent (SDA). Powder XRD, TEM, SEM-EDS, N2 sorption, ICP-AES chemical analysis, 13C and 31P MAS NMR, UV–Vis, XPS spectroscopic tools, TG-DTA and NH3-TPD were used to characterize this material. XRD, N2 sorption and TEM image analysis suggested the disordered layered framework structure and the presence of large-size micropores along with mesopores in this material. Spectroscopic data suggested the presence of phenyl group, O, Ti and P in this open-framework material, where Ti centers can adopt both tetrahedral and octahedral geometry. TPP-1 showed fairly good H2 adsorption capacity under normal pressure to high pressure at 77 K. Physisorption data on hydrogen has suggested the potential application of this porous material in H2 storage.