Water as a structure-driving agent between the UiO-66 and MIL-140A metal–organic frameworks

We report a careful investigation of a selective phase formation in the zirconium-terephthalic acid system during solvothermal synthesis, which could result in the UiO-66 (Zr6O6(OH)4(BDC)6) or MIL-140A (ZrO(BDC)) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The introduction of water varies the phase from MIL-140A to UiO-66 by producing at the nucleation stage tetragonal ZrO2 nanoparticles, where the local arrangement of Zr and O atoms is similar to that in the UiO-66 SBU.