Use of open source monitoring hardware to improve the production of MOFs: using STA-16(Ni) as a case study

Affordable and readily available microelectronics are becoming prevalent in teaching laboratories however these useful and economic tools are not used widely in either academia or industry. Herein we report how a metal organic framework (MOF) synthetic route can be optimized using an in situ monitoring apparatus designed in-house on open source hardware for under $100. We demonstrate that the MOF can be produced at atmospheric pressure, an improvement over previous reports, but also with a reduction in reaction time of 93%. This improvement in reaction time was predicted after a single experiment using the monitoring kit showing how efficiencies in the lab can be gained with very little experimental and monetary overhead while minimising the resources used.