Molecular Recognition with Resolution Below 0.2 Angstroms Through Thermoregulatory Oscillations in Covalent Organic Frameworks

Yiming Hu, Bratin Sengupta, Hai Long, Lacey Wayment, Richard Ciora, Yinghua Jin, Jingyi Wu, Zepeng Lei, Kaleb Friedman, Hongxuan Chen, Miao Yu, Wei Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Crystalline materials with uniform molecular-sized pores are desirable for a broad range of applications, such as sensors, catalysis, and separations. However, it is challenging to tune the pore size of a single material continuously and to reversibly distinguish small molecules (below 4 angstroms). We synthesized a series of ionic covalent organic frameworks using a tetraphenoxyborate linkage that maintains meticulous synergy between structural rigidity and local flexibility to achieve continuous and reversible (100 thermal cycles) tunability of “dynamic pores” between 2.9 and 4.0 angstroms, with resolution below 0.2 angstroms. This results from temperature-regulated, gradual amplitude change of high-frequency linker oscillations. These thermoelastic apertures selectively block larger molecules over marginally smaller ones, demonstrating size-based molecular recognition and the potential for separating challenging gas mixtures such as oxygen/nitrogen and nitrogen/methane.
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)1441-1447
Number of pages7
JournalScience
Volume384
Issue number6703
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-2C00-90509

Keywords

  • crystalline materials
  • gas mixtures
  • high-frequency linker oscillations
  • ionic covalent organic frameworks

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Molecular Recognition with Resolution Below 0.2 Angstroms Through Thermoregulatory Oscillations in Covalent Organic Frameworks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this