title: Encapsulation of large dye molecules in hierarchically superstructured metal-organic frameworks.
abstract: Microporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent a new family of microporous materials, offering potential applications in gas separation and storage, catalysis, and membranes. The engineering of hierarchical superstructured MOFs, i.e., fabricating mesopores in microporous frameworks during the crystallization stage is expected to serve a myriad of applications for molecular adsorption, drug delivery, and catalysis. However, MOFs with mesopores are rarely studied because of the lack of a simple, effective way to construct mesoscale cavities in the structures. Here, we report the use of a perturbation-assisted nanofusion technique to construct hierarchically superstructured MOFs. In particular, the mesopores in the MOF structure enabled the confinement of large dye species, resulting in fluorescent MOF materials, which can serve as a new type of ratiometric luminescent sensors for typical volatile organic compounds.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA. dais@ornl.gov.
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.forename: Ruijing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yuanjing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Jihua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Dale K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Hensley
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dai