Shaping the Future of Fuel: Monolithic Metal-Organic Frameworks for High-Density Gas Storage.

The environmental benefits of cleaner, gaseous fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen are widely reported. Yet, practical usage of these fuels is inhibited by current gas storage technology. Here, we discuss the wide-ranging potential of gas-fuels to revolutionize the energy sector and introduce the limitations of current storage technology that prevent this transition from taking place. The practical capabilities of adsorptive gas storage using porous, crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are examined with regard to recent benchmark results and ultimate storage targets in this field. In particular, the industrial limitations of typically powdered MOFs are discussed while recent breakthroughs in MOF processing are highlighted. We offer our perspective on the future of practical, rather than purely academic, MOF developments in the increasingly critical field of environmental fuel storage

Wiz: a web-based tool for interactive visualization of big data

In an age of information, visualizing and discerning meaning from data is as important as its collection. Interactive data visualization addresses both fronts by allowing researchers to explore data beyond what static images can offer. Here, we present Wiz, a web-based application for handling and visualizing large amounts of data. Wiz does not require programming or downloadable software for its use and allows scientists and non-scientists to unravel the complexity of data by splitting their relationships through 5D visual analytics, performing multivariate data analysis, such as principal component and linear discriminant analyses, all in vivid, publication-ready figures. With the explosion of high-throughput practices for materials discovery, information streaming capabilities, and the emphasis on industrial digitalization and artificial intelligence, we expect Wiz to serve as an invaluable tool to have a broad impact in our world of big data

2D-cadmium MOF and gismondine-like zinc coordination network based on the N-(2-tetrazolethyl)-4′-glycine linker

We have designed and synthesized two new metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs) using the novel N-(2-tetrazolethyl)-4′-glycine spacer (TeGly)2−. These materials exhibit intense photoluminescence.This work was supported by the MEC of Spain (Project CTQ2011-24478) and the Junta de Andalucía (FQM-1484). D. F.-J. thanks the Royal Society for a University Research Fellowship.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society of Chemistry via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5NJ00011

Reverse Hierarchy of Alkane Adsorption in Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) Revealed by Immersion Calorimetry

Immersion calorimetry into liquids of different dimensions is a powerful tool to learn about the pore size and shape in nanoporous solids. In general, in the absence of specific interactions with the solid surface, the accessibility of the liquid probe molecule to the inner porosity and the associated enthalpy value decreases with an increase in its kinetic diameter (bulkier molecules have lower accessibility and packing density). Although this is true for the majority of solids (e.g., activated carbons and zeolites), this study anticipates that this is not straightforward in the specific case of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). The evaluation of different hydrocarbons and their derivatives reveals the presence of reverse selectivity for C6 isomers (2,2-dimethylbutane > 2-methylpentane > n-hexane) in UiO-66 and HKUST-1, whereas size exclusion effects take place in ZIF-8. The immersion calorimetric findings have been compared with vapor adsorption isotherms and computational studies. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the reverse selectivity in UiO-66 is attributed to the strong confinement of the dibranched hydrocarbons in the small tetragonal cages, whereas the presence of strong interactions with the open metal sites accounts for the preferential adsorption in HKUST-1. These results open the gate toward the application of immersion calorimetry for the prescreening of MOFs to identify in an easy, fast and reliable way interesting characteristics and/or properties such as separation ability, reversed hierarchy, pore-window size, presence of unsaturated metal sites, molecular accessibility, and so on.Authors would like to acknowledge financial support from MINECO (MAT2016-80285-p), Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/004) and H2020 (MSCA-RISE-2016/NanoMed Project). P.Z.M. is grateful for start-up funds from the University of Sheffield

Temperature Treatment of Highly Porous Zirconium-Containing Metal-Organic Frameworks Extends Drug Delivery Release.

Utilizing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as a biological carrier can lower the amount of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) required in cancer treatments to provide a more efficacious therapy. In this work, we have developed a temperature treatment process for delaying the release of a model drug compound from the pores of NU-1000 and NU-901, while taking care to utilize these MOFs' large pore volume and size to achieve exceptional model drug loading percentages over 35 wt %. Video-rate super-resolution microscopy reveals movement of MOF particles when located outside of the cell boundary, and their subsequent immobilization when taken up by the cell. Through the use of optical sectioning structured illumination microscopy (SIM), we have captured high-resolution 3D images showing MOF uptake by HeLa cells over a 24 h period. We found that addition of a model drug compound into the MOF and the subsequent temperature treatment process does not affect the rate of MOF uptake by the cell. Endocytosis analysis revealed that MOFs are internalized by active transport and that inhibiting the caveolae-mediated pathway significantly reduced cellular uptake of MOFs. Encapsulation of an anticancer therapeutic, alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (α-CHC), and subsequent temperature treatment produced loadings of up to 81 wt % and demonstrated efficacy at killing cells beyond the burst release effect.M.H.T. thanks the Gates Cambridge Trust for funding, S. Haddad, D. Vulpe and Dr. C. Hockings for helpful discussions, and Dr. J. McMillan at the Cambridge Advanced Imaging Centre (CAIC), University of Cambridge. D.F.-J. thanks the Royal Society for funding through a University Research Fellowship. O.K.F. and J.T.H. gratefully acknowledge DTRA for financial support (grant HDTRA-1-14-1-0014). C.F.K. acknowledges funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC (grants EP/L015889/1 and EP/H018301/1), the Wellcome Trust (grants 3-3249/Z/16/Z and 089703/Z/09/Z) and the UK Medical Research Council, MRC (grants MR/K015850/1 and MR/K02292X/1), and Infinitus (China) Ltd. Computational work was supported by the Cambridge High Performance Computing Cluster, Darwin

One-dimensional metal-organic framework photonic crystals used as platforms for vapor sorption.

We present the fabrication of one-dimensional photonic crystals (Bragg stacks) based on a microporous metal–organic framework material and mesoporous titanium dioxide. The Bragg stack heterostructures were obtained using two complementary synthesis approaches utilizing the bottom-up assembly of heterogeneous, i.e. two-component photonic crystal multilayer structures. Zeolitic imidazolate framework ZIF-8 and mesoporous titanium dioxide were chosen as functional components with different refractive indices. While ZIF-8 is intended to impart molecular selectivity, mesoporous TiO2 is used to ensure high refractive index contrast and to guarantee molecular diffusion within the Bragg stack. The combination of micro- and mesoporosity within one scaffold endows the 1D-MOF PC with characteristic adsorption properties upon exposure to various organic vapors. In this context, the sorption behavior of the photonic material was studied as a function of partial pressure of organic vapors. The results show that the multilayered photonic heterostructures are sensitive and selective towards a series of chemically similar solvent vapors. It is thus anticipated that the concept of multilayer heterogeneous photonic structures will provide a versatile platform for future selective, label-free optical sensors