Ordered macro-microporous metal-organic framework single crystals

We constructed highly oriented and ordered macropores within metal-organic framework (MOF) single crystals, opening up the area of three-dimensional–ordered macro-microporous materials (that is, materials containing both macro- and micropores) in single-crystalline form. Our methodology relies on the strong shaping effects of a polystyrene nanosphere monolith template and a double-solvent–induced heterogeneous nucleation approach. This process synergistically enabled the in situ growth of MOFs within ordered voids, rendering a single crystal with oriented and ordered macro-microporous structure. The improved mass diffusion properties of such hierarchical frameworks, together with their robust single-crystalline nature, endow them with superior catalytic activity and recyclability for bulky-molecule reactions, as compared with conventional, polycrystalline hollow, and disordered macroporous ZIF-8.

Source: ScienceNOW - January 11, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Shen, K., Zhang, L., Chen, X., Liu, L., Zhang, D., Han, Y., Chen, J., Long, J., Luque, R., Li, Y., Chen, B. Tags: Chemistry, Materials Science reports Source Type: news