Synthesis of Aluminum-Based Metal–Organic Framework (MOF)-Derived Carbon Nanomaterials and Their Water Adsorption Isotherm

The characteristics of water vapor adsorption depend on the structure, porosity, and functional groups of the material. Metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon (MDC) is a novel material that exhibits a high specific area and tunable pore sizes by exploiting the stable structure and porosity of pure MOF materials. Herein, two types of aluminum-based MOFs were used as precursors to synthesize hydrophobic microporous C-MDC and micro-mesoporous A-MDC via carbonization and activation depending on the type of ligands in the precursors. C-MDC and A-MDC have different pore characteristics and exhibit distinct water adsorption properties. C-MDC with hydrophobic properties and micropores exhibited negligible water adsorption (108.54 mgg(−1)) at relatively low pressures (P/P(0)~0.3) but showed a rapid increase in water adsorption ability (475.7 mgg(−1)) at relative pressures of about 0.6. A comparison with the isotherm model indicated that the results were consistent with the theories, which include site filling at low relative pressure and pore filling at high relative pressure. In particular, the Do–Do model specialized for type 5 showed excellent agreement.