ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Investigating the Mechanism of Cooperative Melting in Metal-Organic Frameworks

Abstract: Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are formed from inorganic nodes connected by organic ligands, and share structural features with zeolites. They have recently been observed to melt to a molten state, which curiously retains the chemical composition of the crystalline phase. Whilst ZIF-62 [Zn(Im)1.75(bIm)0.25] (Im = imidazolate C3H3N2- and bIm = benzimidazolate C7H5N2-) has been observed to melt at 410 ºC, ZIF-8 [M(mIm)2] (M = Co, Zn and mIm = 2-methylimidazolate C4H5N2-) does not melt before decomposing at ~550 ºC. Curiously, when the two are heated together to only 410 ºC and then cooled, glass is formed whereas Bragg peaks belonging to ZIF-8 would be expected. This highly unusual result paves the way for multiple MOFs to be included within the same liquid/glass state. We wish to gain mechanistic insight into this behaviour by performing an in-situ neutron diffraction experiment.

Principal Investigator: Dr Tom Bennett
Experimenter: Mr Chris Ashling
Experimenter: Mr Chao Zhou
Experimenter: Mr Louis Longley
Experimenter: Professor David Keen
Local Contact: Dr Tom Headen
Experimenter: Mr Chris Ashling

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1720006

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1720006

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find out more about it.

Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Tom Bennett et al; (2018): Investigating the Mechanism of Cooperative Melting in Metal-Organic Frameworks, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1720006

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.