Tailored MOFs inspired by technique for constructing arched stone windows

The method from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia uses a molecular version of an architectural arch-forming ‘centring formwork’ template to direct the formation of MOFs with pore windows of predetermined shape and size.

According to KAUST, new MOFs designed and made in this way range from narrow-windowed materials with gas separation potential to larger-windowed structures with potential medical applications due to their oxygen-adsorption capacity.

“One of the most challenging goals in new structure design is the precise control of structure formation,” said Aleksandr Sapianik, a postdoc in the group of Mohamed Eddaoudi, who led the research. For reticular chemistry - the assembly of molecular building blocks into porous crystalline materials including MOFs - the centring formwork concept might offer that precise control.

The starting point of the research was a zeolite-like MOF (ZMOF), which usually features pentagonal windows framed by supertetrahedra (ST) building blocks.

“Our goal was to control ST arrangement to change from this well-known topology to one not reported before with these building blocks,” Sapianik said in a statement.