Hierarchically Porous Monolith with High MOF Accessibility and Strengthened Mechanical Properties using Water‐in‐Oil High Internal Phase Emulsion Template

Abstract High internal phase emulsion (HIPE) is a promising template for the construction of metal‐organic framework (MOF)‐based hierarchically porous monoliths. However, the current approaches still suffer from many issues, such as MOF embedment in polymer matrix and poor mechanical performance. In this work, a co‐stabilization strategy is employed to prepare water‐in‐oil HIPEs and the corresponding MOF‐based poly‐HIPEs. The effects of emulsifier concentration, type and volume of continuous oil phase, and type of initiator are thoroughly investigated. ZIF‐8 particles with size comparable to the thickness of the cellular wall are adopted to avoid the problem of MOF embedment. As a result, the obtained monolith shows enhanced mechanical properties and a hierarchically porous structure with ≈80% of ZIF‐8 accessible. Due to these unique features, the ZIF‐8‐based hierarchically porous monoliths exhibit greatly accelerated adsorption kinetics in iodine removal, showing great promise for future industrial applications.