Scientists have created a new family of materials whose behaviour can be tuned by changing their metallic ‘recipe’ - opening new possibilities for uses including gas storage and sensing.
Led by the University of Birmingham, chemists have created a highly adaptable metal-organic framework (MOF), where- metal atoms are connected by organic molecules to create highly ordered structures containing tiny pores.
Publishing their discovery in Angewandte Chemie, the team have shown that changing the proportions of metals within the material can alter properties including magnetism, porosity, light absorption, and CO₂ uptake.
Researchers from the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham, and Limerick created materials capable of incorporating up to 16 different metals into the same crystal structure, the highest number yet achieved in a MOF.
Corresponding author Professor Neil Champness, from the University of Birmingham, said: “Our findings confirm a route towards ‘programmable’ porous materials, where scientists could choose a combination of metals to dial magnetic, optical, chemical, or gas-adsorption behaviour.
“The ability to predict how strongly particular metals will be incorporated potentially offers much finer control over future multi-metal materials. Rather than having to invent a completely new material every time they want different properties, researchers can potentially change the metallic ‘recipe’ within the same underlying structure.”
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