Collaborative Research: Metal-Organic Nanotubes as Tunable Porous Fibers

The dimensionality of a material dictates its properties, functionality and application scope. The PIs, Jenkins and Gianneschi, propose a comprehensive synthesis and characterization program for targeting 1D analogues of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), termed metal organic nanotubes (MONTs). MONTs form covalent bonds along only one axis. To date, work on these materials has been limited to aggregates of MONTs, which are formed on the macroscale and perform as 3D materials in a similar manner as MOFs. However, these materials cannot exhibit their unique, highly anisotropic properties until it is possible to make and measure either individual tubes or small bundles of tubes. To approach small bundles, it is necessary to understand their nucleation and growth pathways since they are built one chemical bond at a time, thereby drawing a close analogy to polymers. The PIs will characterize the bulk MONTs using single crystal X-ray diffraction, while the colloidal MONTs will be characterized by microscopy and scattering techniques. These will include liquid cell TEM (LCTEM), standard TEM, and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Additional goals of the proposal include understanding and controlling the growth of anisotropic materials using confined chemical syntheses, co-polymerization reactions wherein multiple ligands are employed to synthesize MONTs and, finally, blending MONTs as polymer composites.