Metal assisted self-assembled nano sized porous 2-D structures incorporating malonic acid dihydrazide and melamine

The solids Cu(MADH)2 Cl2 2TAT 9H2O and Zn(MADH)2 Cl2 2TAT 2H2O (MADH = malonic acid dihydrazide and TAT = melamine) characterized by spectroscopic and elemental analysis, have been investigated by transmission electron microscope. Microstructure at high magnification revealed the supramolecular assembly of MADH and TAT into a mesh structure in presence of Cu(II) metal ions and tubular structure with intermittent openings on the tube walls and Y- junctions for Zn(II) complex. The mesh structure of the Cu(II) complex has uniformly spaced 40–50 nm long and 20–30 nm wide openings, while the diameter of the tubular structure of the Zn(II) complex is 50–200 nm.The assembly of the supramolecular structure is attributed to H-bonding and the different architectures of the assembly with different metal ions to the difference in waters of crystallization. The potential of the complex for gas adsorption was also investigated.