Shaping Covalent Triazine Frameworks for the Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide to Formic Acid

A facile one-step method to shape covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) for catalytic applications is reported. Phase inversion of the CTF powder by using a polyimide as a binder in a microfluidic device results in the formation of composite spheres with accessible CTF porosity and a high mechanical and thermal stability. The fabricated spheres...

Evidence for a chemical clock in oscillatory formation of UiO-66

Chemical clocks are often used as exciting classroom experiments, where an induction time is followed by rapidly changing colours that expose oscillating concentration patterns. This type of reaction belongs to a class of nonlinear chemical kinetics also linked to chaos, wave propagation and Turing patterns. Despite its vastness in occurrence...

Establishing hierarchy: The chain of events leading to the formation of silicalite-1 nanosheets

In applying a multi-scale spectroscopic and computational approach, we demonstrate that the synthesis of stacked zeolite silicalite-1 nanosheets, in the presence of a long-tail diquaternary ammonium salt surfactant, proceeds through a pre-organised phase in the condensed state. In situ small-angle X-ray scattering, coupled to paracrystalline...

Crystal engineering with metal-organic frameworks

Enhancing optical absorption of metal–organic frameworks for improved visible light photocatalysis

NH2-MIL-125(Ti) has been post-synthetically functionalized with dye-like molecular fragments. The new material (methyl red-MIL- 125(Ti)) exhibits improved light absorption over a wide range of the visible spectrum, and shows enhanced photocatalytic oxidation activity under visible light illumination. The consequences of functionalization and the...

Fascinating chemistry or frustrating unpredictability: Observations in crystal engineering of metal–organic frameworks

Reticular design is a highly attractive concept, but coordination chemistry around the tectonic units of metal– organic frameworks (MOFs) and additional interplay with anionic and solvent species provide for dazzling complexity that effectively rules out structure prediction. We can however study the chemistry around pre-existing clusters, and...