AER Chemistry Seminar — Matthew Hurlock
About the event
Title: Structure-Property Relationships in Porous and Non-Porous Coordination Polymers for Catalytic, Battery, and Sensing Applications
Abstract: Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) standout amongst coordination polymers due to their porous structures and facile tunability. Porous coordination polymers can be designed and utilized for applications such as carbon capture, energy storage, and the detection of environmental hazards. However, predicting how structural changes will affect the physical properties of MOFs is challenging. In this talk, I will discuss my work addressing this challenge in a few relevant areas. First, I will highlight an approach that showed the diffusion capabilities and catalytic performance of the zirconium MOF UiO-66 can be enhanced by introducing structural defects and the generation of mesopores during synthesis.1,2 Specifically, we demonstrated this through the MOF-based catalytic degradation of thiophenes via oxidative desulfurization. Next, I will discuss how the varied pore sizes and tunability of these materials can be used to facilitate the diffusion of ions in batteries. We found that when combined in an aerogel matrix, these materials improved Li+ ion diffusion and reduced lithium dendrite formation in lithium metal batteries. Functionalization of the MOF ligand was shown to further improve these properties.3 Finally, I will detail my work on tuning the properties of MOFs through various ligand based strategies. This was accomplished via structural alterations using a mixed ligand synthesis approach or through post-synthetic modification. Collectively, this work demonstrates that additional MOF functionality can be achieved, including increased porosity, secondary catalytic sites, ionic frameworks, and tunable photophysical properties.4-6
References:
[1] Hao, L.; Hurlock, M. J.; et al. Chem. Commun. 2018, 54, 11817-11820.
[2] Hao, L.; et al. Green Chem. 2020, 22, 6351-6356.
[3] Fu, X.; Hurlock, M. J.; et al. Small 2021, 2106225.
[4] Hurlock, M. J.; et al. Inorg. Chem., 2021, 60 (4), 2503-2513.
[5] Demming, D. A.; Hurlock, M. J.; et al. J. Organomet. Chem., 2019, 897, 114-119.