Co/Cu-MFF derived mesoporous ternary metal oxide microcubes for enhancing the catalytic activity of the CO oxidation reaction

Metal–organic framework (MOF)-based derivatives with uniform micro/mesoporous structures have attracted a great deal of interest in various research fields. Herein, we report a simple strategy to design functional mesoporous ternary metal oxides with controlled composition through direct pyrolysis of Co/Cu bimetal-formate frameworks (Co/Cu-MFFs), which were prepared by a facile one-step liquid-phase precipitation method, exhibiting uniform distribution of two different metal species and good structural integrity. The obtained mesoporous ternary metal oxide Cu(x)Co(3−x)O(4) (x = 0.5, 1) microcubes exhibit much better performance for CO oxidation than pure Co(3)O(4), which can be mainly attributed to their larger specific surface areas, stronger reducibility, and the synergistic effect of two active metal oxide components.