Stable Thiophene-sulfur Covalent Organic Frameworks for Oxygen Reduction Reaction(ORR)

Exploring novel materials deriving from earth resources to substitute for platinum(Pt) electrocatalyst to promote oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) of fuel cell cathode is very important. Herein, we have exploited two crystallographic thiophene-sulfur covalent organic frameworks(COFs), termed JUC-607 and JUC-608, as electrocatalysts that exhibited good ORR performances. These thiophene-sulfur COFs exhibited high stability, and their functional groups acting as active centers in the ORR can be precisely determined. Notably, due to a larger aperture for mass transfer and electrons transport, JUC-608 displayed a growing electrochemical performance, leading to a better ORR activity. Thus, this study will provide a new strategy for designing heteroatom-based COF materials for high-performance electrochemical catalysis.     

Pore Engineering for Covalent Organic Framework Membranes

Membrane technology is of particular significance for the sustainable development of society owing to its potential capacity to tackle the energy shortage and environmental pollution. Membrane materials are the core part of membrane technology. Researchers have always been pursuing predictable structures of advanced membrane materials, which provides a possibility to fully unlock the potential of membranes. Covalent organic frameworks(COFs), with the advantage of controllable pore microenvironment, are considered to be promising candidates to achieve this design concept. The customizable function of COF membranes through pore engineering does well in the enhancement of selective permeability performance, which offers COF membranes with great application potentials in separation and transportation fields. In this context, COF-based membranes have been developed rapidly in recent years. Herein, we present a brief overview on the strategies developed for pore engineering of COF membranes in recent years, including skeleton engineering, pore surface engineering, host-guest chemistry and membrane fabrication. Moreover, the features of transmission or separation of molecules/ions based on COF membranes and corresponding applications are also introduced. In the last part, the challenges and prospects of the development of COF membranes are discussed.     

Control of pore environment in highly porous carbon materials for C2H6/C2H4 separation with exceptional ethane uptake

Adsorptive separation of C₂H₆ from C₂H₄ by adsorbents is an energy-efficient and promising method to boost the polymer grades C₂H₄ production. However, that C₂H₆ and C₂H₄ display very similar physical properties, making their separation extremely challenging. In this work, by regulating the pore environment in a family of chitosan-based carbon materials (C-CTS-1, C-CTS-2, C-CTS-4, and C-CTS-6)- we target ultrahigh C₂H₆ uptake and C₂H₆/C₂H₄ separation, which exceeds most benchmark carbon materials. Explicitly, the C₂H₆ uptake of C-CTS-2 (166 cm³/g at 100 kPa and 298 K) has the second-highest adsorption capacity among all the porous materials. In addition, C-CTS-2 gives C₂H₆/C₂H₄ selectivity of 1.75 toward a 1:15 mixture of C₂H₆/C₂H₄. Notably, the adsorption enthalpies for C₂H₆ in C-CTS-2 are low (21.3 kJ/mol), which will facilitate regeneration in mild conditions. Furthermore, C₂H₆/C₂H₄ separation performance was confirmed by binary breakthrough experiments. Under different ethane/ethylene ratios, C-CTS-X extracts a low ethane concentration from an ethane/ethylene mixture and produces high-purity C₂H₄ in one step. Spectroscopic measurement and diffraction analysis provide critical insight into the adsorption/separation mechanism. The nitrogen functional groups on the surface play a vital role in improving C₂H₆/C₂H₄ selectivity, and the adsorption capacities depend on the pore size and micropore volume. Moreover, these robust porous materials exhibit outstanding stability (up to 800 °C) and can be easily prepared on a large scale (kg) at a low cost (～$26 per kg), which is very significant for potential industrial applications.     

Selective sensing of CrVI and FeIII ions in aqueous solution by an exceptionally stable TbIII-organic framework with an AIE-active ligand

We herein report a new lanthanide metal-organic framework (MOF) that exhibits excellent chemical stability, especially in the aqueous solution over a wide pH range from 1 to 14. In contrast to many reported lanthanide MOFs, this Tb-based MOF emits cyan fluorescence inherited from the integrated AIE-active ligand, rather than Ln³⁺ ions. More remarkably, its fluorescence signal features a highly selective and sensitive “turn-off” response toward CrO₄²⁻, Cr₂O₇²⁻ and Fe³⁺ ions, highlighted with the low detection limits down to 68.18, 69.85 and 138.8 ppm, respectively. Thus, the exceptional structural stability and sensing performance render this material able to be a superior luminescent sensor for heavy metal ions in wastewater.     

一锅法可控合成金属有机框架材料Mn-荧光素用于核磁共振/荧光成像

通过一锅法,首次将核磁共振成像试剂Mn²⁺和荧光成像试剂荧光素（FSD）自组装于一个简单的金属有机框架材料（Mn-FSD）上。实验结果表明,Mn-FSD的粒径可被控制在微纳米水平内并进行生物成像。体外和体内实验结果证实,Mn-FSD可在细胞和裸鼠中显示强绿色荧光。同时,Mn-FSD表现出较高的弛豫值（r₁=4.95 L·mmol^-1·s^-1）。     

同构MOFs复合氧化石墨烯电极材料构筑高性能超级电容器

在水热条件下一步自组装合成系列同构X-MOF （X₆O （TATB）₄（H⁺）₂·（H₂O）₈·（DMF）₂,X=Zn、Co、Ni; H₃TATB=4,4'',4″-s-triazine-2,4,6-triyl-tribenzoic acid; DMF=N,N-二甲基甲酰胺）和氧化石墨烯（GO）的复合材料（X-MOF@GO）,并探究其作为超级电容器电极材料的电化学性能。通过X射线粉末衍射、X射线光电子能谱和扫描电子显微镜测试证明GO和MOFs复合成功。其中,性能最优的Ni-MOFs@1.5GO （GO的添加量为1.5 mL）的比电容高达694.8 F·g^-1（0.5 A·g^-1）,约是Ni-MOF的2倍。电化学测试结果表明：复合材料X-MOF@1.0GO较其原MOF表现出更大的比电容和更好的倍率性能。在3.5 A·g^-1的电流密度下,1 000次循环充放电后,Ni-MOFs@1.0GO仍保持初始比电容量的81.2%。与活性炭（AC）组装的非对称超级电容器Ni-MOF@1.5GO//AC的性能最优,其功率密度为754.3 W·kg^-1时,能量密度为15.4 Wh·kg^-1,且循环3 000次后比电容保持率约为70.0%,显示出较长的循环寿命。     

Tailoring Pore Structure and Morphologies in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Xe/Kr Capture and Separation

As a rising star among porous solid materials, covalent organic frameworks(COFs) with excellent properties including but not limit to facilely controllable structure, high porosity, and multi-chemical functionality represent significant potential for efficient ¹²⁷Xe/⁸⁵Kr capture and separation. In this study, through tuning the length of the organic ligands, two-dimensional(2D) COF mate-rials with identical connection group but different pore properties, denoted as ATFG-COF and TpPa-COF with AA-stacking model and TpBD-COF with AB-stacking model were synthesized and tested for Kr and Xe adsorption for the first time. Adsorption measurements indicate that the narrower pore apertures and higher porosity are conducive for COF materials to capture Xe and Kr. Furthermore, the Henry's constant, isosteric heat of adsorption(Q_st), and ideal adsorbed solution theory(IAST) selectivity of ATFG-COF, the pore size of which is closest to the kinetic diameter of the Xe atom(0.41 nm) among 2D COF materials, were carried out based on the single component sorption isotherms. The results illustrate that the high isosteric heat values of Xe/Kr adsorption on ATFG-COF are 25 and 16 kJ/mol at room temperature, respectively. Henry's law predicts that the selectivity factor of Xe to Kr is 6.07, consistent with the adsorption selectivity(ca. 6) calculated based on the IAST.     

两个具有Sn_4O_4梯状结构二丁基锡羧酸酯的微波溶剂热合成、结构和体外抗癌活性

在甲醇微波溶剂热中,二丁基氧化锡分别与4-甲基苯甲酸、4-二甲氨基苯甲酸反应,合成了2个具有梯形结构的二丁基锡羧酸酯[(μ3-O)(μ2-OMe)(n-Bu2Sn)2(O2CR)]2(R=4-Me-C6H4(1),4-Me2N-C6H4(2)),并对其进行了元素分析、IR和(1H,13C和119Sn)NMR光谱表征。X射线晶体衍射分析表明,化合物1、2具有Sn4O4构筑的3个四元环梯形骨架平面结构,μ3-O桥联2个环内梯锡和1个环梯端锡原子,此外,甲醇氧还以μ2-O桥联1个环内梯锡和1个环梯端锡原子,锡与配基原子构成畸形三角双锥六面体。化合物对人结肠癌(HT-29)、肝癌细胞(Hep G2)、乳腺癌(MCF-7)、鼻咽癌(KB)和肺癌细胞(A549)均显示出比临床使用的顺铂还强的抗癌活性。     

Impact of the flexibility of pillar linkers on the structure and CO_2 adsorption property of ‘‘pillar-layered' MOFs

A new metal–organic framework {[Zn_2(bpta)(bpy-ee)(H_2O)_2]·x solve}_n(1)(H_4bpta = biphenyl-2,20,6,60-tetracarboxylic acid and bpy-ee = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene) has been obtained under hydrothermal condition, and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 reveals a threedimensional(3D) ‘‘pillar-layered' framework with non-flexible linker, in which some different structure characters can be found compared to that of some related other ‘‘pillar-layered' MOFs based on flexible pillar linkers. It demonstrates the impact of the flexibility of pillar linker on the final structure in this system. In addition, the selective CO_2 adsorption performance of 1 was also investigated.     

A Fluorescent Zirconium‐Based Metal‐Organic Framework for Selective Detection of Nitro Explosives and Metal Ions

In this work, a new porous Zr‐based metal‐organic framework (MOF ) with a large Brunner‐Emmet‐Teller (BET ) surface area was prepared by the solvothermal method using 4,4’‐(naphthalene‐1,4‐diyl)dibenzoic acid (NDDA ) as the organic ligand, and the luminescent detection performance was studied systematically. The experiments combing with computations indicate that the as‐synthesized material can sensitively and selectively detect nitro explosives and metal ions, especially for 2,4,6‐trinitrophenol (TNP ) and Fe³⁺, due to the possible electron transfer from inorganic moieties to organic moieties with naphthalene part. Interestingly, owing to its high porosity and large surface area, this Zr‐MOF showed quick luminescent response time (in 1 min) for TNP and Fe³⁺. The results obtained may provide useful information for the design of MOFs with the large permanent porosity in sensing applications for large molecules in the future.