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Updated: Dec 15, 2025

Author Spotlight: Characterizing Porous Materials for Aiding the Development of Robust Metal-Organic Frameworks with Adsorption Behavior
Published on: March 8, 2024
Specific Isotope-Responsive Breathing Transition in Flexible Metal-Organic Frameworks
Jin Yeong Kim1, Jaewoo Park2, Junsu Ha1
1Department of Chemistry, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
An isotope-selective responsive system based on molecular recognition in porous materials has potential for the storage and purification of isotopic mixtures but is considered unachievable because of the almost identical physicochemical properties of the isotopes. Herein, a unique isotope-responsive breathing transition of the flexible metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-53(Al), which can selectively recognize and respond to only D2 molecules through a secondary breathing transition, is reported. This novel phenomenon is examined using in situ neutron diffraction experiments under the same conditions for H2 and D2 sorption experiments. This work can guide the development of a novel isotope-selective recognition system and provide opportunities to fabricate flexible MOF systems for energy-efficient purification of the isotopic mixture.
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