Immobilization of Gold Nanoparticles on Postsynthetically Modified NU-1000 for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

NU-1000, being a hydrothermally stable metal-organic framework (MOF), with structural robustness is viable for functionalization with various entities. A postsynthetic modification strategy called solvent-assisted ligand incorporation (SALI) is chosen for functionalizing NU-1000 with thiol moieties using 2-mercaptobenzoic acid. In accordance with soft acid-soft base interactions, the thiol groups on NU-1000, as a scaffold, can immobilize the gold nanoparticles without much aggregation. The catalytically active gold sites on thiolated NU-1000 are utilized for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The catalyst delivered an overpotential of 101 mV at a current density of 10 mAcm