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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Synthesis of Hydrogels with Antifouling Properties As Membranes for Water Purification
Published on: April 7, 2017
Humidity-Induced Self-Oscillating and Self-Healing Hypercrosslinked Metal-Organic Polyhedra Membranes
Jiamin Li1, Zhaoyi Liu1, Jinjin Liu1
1College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
Abstract:
Designing autonomously oscillating materials is highly desirable for emerging smart material fields but challenging. Herein, a type of hypercrosslinked metal-organic polyhedra (HCMOPs) membranes formed by covalent crosslinking of boronic acid-modified Zr-based MOPs with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are rationally designed. In these membranes, MOPs serve as high-connectivity nodes and provide dynamic borate bonds with PVA in hypercrosslinked networks, which can be broken/formed reversibly upon the stimulus of water vapor. The humidity response characteristic of HCMOPs promotes their self-oscillating and self-healing properties. HCMOP membranes can realize a self-oscillating property above the water surface even after loading a cargo that is 1.5 times the weight of the membrane due to the fast adsorption and desorption kinetics. Finally, the HCMOP actuator can realize energy conversion from mechanical energy into electricity when coupled with a piezoelectric membrane. This work not only paves a new avenue to construct MOP-polymer hybrid materials but also expands the application scopes of MOPs for smart actuation devices.
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