Determining Linker Ratios of Mixed Metal-Organic Frameworks via Magnetic Susceptibility Measurements

Partial replacement of the organic linkers of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) often optimizes their functionalities, however, accurate characterization of their molar ratios in many cases is challenging. This work presents a method of determining such linker ratios via measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of small quantities of powdered samples. The main presumption is taking the diamagnetic and paramagnetic contributions to the molar magnetic susceptibility of the two parent MOFs to be additive. To verify this, four examples are provided with commonly used MOFs to represent the cases when both parent MOFs are either paramagnetic or diamagnetic but with different linkers with the following systems: [MIL-101(Cr)-SO₃H]_1-δ[MIL-101(Cr)-NO₂]_δ, [EuMOF]_(1-δ)[EuPDCA]_δ, [UiO-66-COOH]_(1-δ)[UiO-66]_δ, and [MIL-101(Cr)F Free]_1-δ[MIL-53(Al)]_δ, where 1-δ: δ are the ratios to be determined. Depending on whether the systems were strictly paramagnetic, strictly diamagnetic or mixed, the experimental error of δ ranged between 0.00002 and 0.012, respectively. We expect the presented method to be widely employed since samples only need to be in powdered form and because there is a lack of characterization tools in the area of MOF linker ratios. The presented method is also applicable to resolving the ratios of mixed ordinary paramagnetic systems as well as other types of nonmagnetic composite materials such as tapes, zeolites and thin films.