Correlated defect nanoregions in a metal–organic framework

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5176
PMID: 24946837

Authors: Matthew Cliffe (University of Oxford) , Wei Wan (Stockholm University) , Xiaodong Zou (Stockholm University) , Philip Chater (Diamond Light Source) , Annette Kleppe (Diamond Light Source) , Matthew G. Tucker (Diamond Light Source) , Heribert Wilhelm (Diamond Light Source) , Nicholas Funnell (University of Oxford) , François-xavier Coudert (Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, CNRS–Chimie ParisTech) , Andrew Goodwin (University of Oxford)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nature Communications , VOL 5

State: Published (Approved)
Published: June 2014
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 5052

Abstract: Throughout much of condensed matter science, correlated disorder is a key to material function. While structural and compositional defects are known to exist within a variety of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), the prevailing understanding is that these defects are only ever included in a random manner. Here we show—using a combination of diffuse scattering, electron microscopy, anomalous X-ray scattering and pair distribution function measurements—that correlations between defects can in fact be introduced and controlled within a hafnium terephthalate MOF. The nanoscale defect structures that emerge are an analogue of correlated Schottky vacancies in rocksalt-structured transition metal monoxides and have implications for storage, transport, optical and mechanical responses. Our results suggest how the diffraction behaviour of some MOFs might be reinterpreted, and establish a strategy of exploiting correlated nanoscale disorder as a targetable and desirable motif in MOF design.

Subject Areas: Chemistry


Instruments: I15-Extreme Conditions