One-dimensional alignment of defects in a flexible metal-organic framework

Fu, Yao; Forse, Alexander C.; Kang, Zhengzhong; Cliffe, Matthew J.; Cao, Weicheng; Yin, Jinglin; Gao, Lina; Pang, Zhenfeng; He, Tian; Chen, Qinlong; Wang, Qi; Long, Jeffrey R.; Reimer, Jeffrey A.; Kong, Xueqian

Abstract

Crystalline materials are often considered to have rigid periodic lattices, while soft materials are associated with flexibility and nonperiodicity. The continuous evolution of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has erased the boundaries between these two distinct conceptions. Flexibility, disorder, and defects have been found to be abundant in MOF materials with imperfect crystallinity, and their intricate interplay is poorly understood because of the limited strategies for characterizing disordered structures. Here, we apply advanced nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to elucidate the mesoscale structures in a defective MOF with a semicrystalline lattice. We show that engineered defects can tune the degree of lattice flexibility by combining both ordered and disordered compartments. The one-dimensional alignment of correlated defects is the key for the reversible topological transition. The unique matrix is featured with both rigid framework of nanoporosity and flexible linkage of high swellability.

Citation

Fu, Y., Forse, A. C., Kang, Z., Cliffe, M. J., Cao, W., Yin, J., …Kong, X. (2023). One-dimensional alignment of defects in a flexible metal-organic framework. Science Advances, 9(6), Article eade6975. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade6975

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 9, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Feb 10, 2023
• Publication Date: Feb 10, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 20, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 21, 2023
• Journal: Science Advances
• Electronic ISSN: 2375-2548
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 6
• Article Number: eade6975
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade6975
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/17624433
• Publisher URL: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade6975
• Additional Information: Received: 2022-09-01; Accepted: 2023-01-09; Published: 2023-02-10