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Published on: July 13, 2018
Interpenetration Control in Thorium Metal-Organic Frameworks: Structural Complexity toward Iodine Adsorption
Yu Ju1,2,3, Zi-Jian Li1,3, Huangjie Lu2,3
1Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province 213164, P. R. China.
Researchers controlled interpenetration in thorium-based metal-organic frameworks (Th-MOFs) using ligand steric modulation. This led to new Th-MOFs with high porosity and diverse topologies, advancing MOF design for applications like iodine adsorption.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Crystallography
Background:
- Controlling interpenetration in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is crucial for porosity-related applications.
- Thorium-based MOFs (Th-MOFs) offer unique properties but their structural diversity and interpenetration control remain underexplored.
- Ligand steric modulation is a known strategy for influencing MOF structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the control of interpenetration in thorium-based MOFs using ligand steric modulation.
- To synthesize and characterize new Th-MOFs with diverse topologies and controlled structures.
- To explore the potential of these Th-MOFs for applications such as iodine adsorption.
Main Methods:
- Utilized solvothermal synthesis with thorium nitrate and modified triphenyl H2TPDC ligands.
- Employed ligand steric modulation by introducing methyl groups to control framework interpenetration.
- Characterized synthesized materials using single-crystal X-ray diffraction to determine structures and topologies.
Main Results:
- Synthesized seven new Th-MOFs with five distinct topologies, including two rare examples of interpenetrated Th-MOFs.
- Achieved record-high pore volumes (up to 75.3%) in non-interpenetrated UiO-68-type Th-MOFs (Th-SINAP-17 and Th-SINAP-20).
- Demonstrated exclusive formation of an interpenetrated Th-MOF (Th-SINAP-16) with a hex topology using the unmodified ligand.
Conclusions:
- Ligand steric modulation effectively controls interpenetration in Th-MOFs, enabling access to unprecedented structural complexity.
- Th-MOFs exhibit significant synthetic accessibility and structural diversity comparable to other tetravalent metal-containing MOFs.
- The synthesized Th-MOFs are promising platforms for structure-property relationship studies and applications like iodine adsorption.
