Direct synthesis of a semiconductive double-helical phosphorus allotrope in a metal-organic framework

Sergei A. Sapchenko (), Rodion V. Belosludov, Inigo J. Vitoria-Irezabal, Ivan Silva, Xi Chen, George F. S. Whitehead, John Maddock, Louise S. Natrajan, Meredydd Kippax-Jones, Dukula De Alwis Jayasinghe, Carlo Bawn, Daniil M. Polyukhov, Yinlin Chen, Vladimir P. Fedin, Sihai Yang () and Martin Schröder ()
Additional contact information
Sergei A. Sapchenko: University of Manchester
Rodion V. Belosludov: Tohoku University
Inigo J. Vitoria-Irezabal: University of Manchester
Ivan Silva: Oxfordshire
Xi Chen: University of Manchester
George F. S. Whitehead: University of Manchester
John Maddock: University of Manchester
Louise S. Natrajan: University of Manchester
Meredydd Kippax-Jones: University of Manchester
Dukula De Alwis Jayasinghe: University of Manchester
Carlo Bawn: University of Manchester
Daniil M. Polyukhov: University of Manchester
Yinlin Chen: University of Manchester
Vladimir P. Fedin: 3 Lavrentiev Ave
Sihai Yang: University of Manchester
Martin Schröder: University of Manchester

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract There remains much ambiguity regarding the structure of red phosphorus. We report the adsorption and photo-polymerisation of P4 molecules encapsulated in an indium(III)-based metal-organic framework to afford a double-helical chain composite comprising of [P8] units. The similarity between the Raman spectrum of bulk red phosphorus and of the metal-organic framework – (P8)n adduct suggests the presence of such helical chains in the structure of amorphous red phosphorus. This provides crystallographic evidence of the structural building blocks of the red phosphorus allotrope stabilized within the pores of a metal-organic host. The (P8)n inclusion compound is an air-stable semiconductor with a band gap of 2.3 eV, which is relevant for gas detection and photo-catalysis. We demonstrate that this phosphorus adduct demonstrates a 10-fold increase in conversion in the oxidation of methyl orange dye compared with the parent metal-organic framework material.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-55999-4 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:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-55999-4

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

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-55999-4

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 ().