Development of composite inorganic building blocks for MOFs

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are advanced porous materials with tunable structures.
• Diversifying MOF building blocks is crucial for enhancing their properties and applications.
• Current MOF construction methods often rely on limited inorganic precursors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a new strategy for diversifying metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
• To synthesize novel composite inorganic clusters for MOF construction.
• To explore the potential of these clusters in creating MOFs with high gas uptake capacity.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of heterometallic inorganic clusters involving indium and s-, d-, and f-block elements.
• Characterization of the synthesized clusters, analyzing their nuclearity, geometry, charge, and metal-to-metal ratios.
• Utilizing these clusters as building blocks for the construction of porous MOFs.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of previously unknown heterometallic clusters.
• Demonstration of diverse cluster properties, including varying nuclearity, geometry, charge, and metal-to-metal ratios.
• Expansion of the available inorganic building blocks for MOF synthesis.

Conclusions:

• The synthesis of these novel heterometallic clusters provides a general direction for diversifying MOFs.
• These clusters are highly effective for constructing porous MOFs with significantly improved gas uptake capacity.
• This work expands the toolkit for designing advanced MOFs with tailored functionalities.