Real-space imaging for discovering a rotated node structure in metal-organic framework

Jiale Feng, Zhipeng Feng, Liang Xu, Haibing Meng, Xiao Chen (), Mengmeng Ma, Lei Wang, Bin Song, Xuan Tang, Sheng Dai, Fei Wei (), Tao Cheng () and Boyuan Shen ()
Additional contact information
Jiale Feng: Soochow University
Zhipeng Feng: Soochow University
Liang Xu: Soochow University
Haibing Meng: Taiyuan University of Technology
Xiao Chen: Tsinghua University
Mengmeng Ma: Soochow University
Lei Wang: Soochow University
Bin Song: Soochow University
Xuan Tang: East China University of Science and Technology
Sheng Dai: East China University of Science and Technology
Fei Wei: Tsinghua University
Tao Cheng: Soochow University
Boyuan Shen: Soochow University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Resolving the detailed structures of metal organic frameworks is of great significance for understanding their structure-property relation. Real-space imaging methods could exhibit superiority in revealing not only the local structure but also the bulk symmetry of these complex porous materials, compared to reciprocal-space diffraction methods, despite the technical challenges. Here we apply a low-dose imaging technique to clearly resolve the atomic structures of building units in a metal-organic framework, MIL-125. An unexpected node structure is discovered by directly imaging the rotation of Ti-O nodes, different from the unrotated structure predicted by previous X-ray diffraction. The imaged structure and symmetry can be confirmed by the structural simulations and energy calculations. Then, the distribution of node rotation from the edge to the center of a MIL-125 particle is revealed by the image analysis of Ti-O rotation. The related defects and surface terminations in MIL-125 are also investigated in the real-space images. These results not only unraveled the node symmetry in MIL-125 with atomic resolution but also inspired further studies on discovering more unpredicted structural changes in other porous materials by real-space imaging methods.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51384-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-51384-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51384-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().