ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

In-situ Deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks under Pressurised Intrusion of Water

Abstract: The pressurised intrusion of non-wetting liquids in porous framework materials presents an attractive pathway to engineering new impact mitigation systems. In this process, external pressure forces liquid water or aqueous solutions to intrude hydrophobic nanopores, thereby converting mechanical work into interfacial energy by generating huge liquid-solid interfaces. Our in-house studies found that cage-type ZIFs can be effective and reusable shock absorbers through this mechanism, setting them apart from conventional protection materials. However, the fundamental mechanisms related to this functionality are not well understood yet, and this requires us to experimentally investigate the presence, distribution, and transport of water molecules inside the hydrophobic nano-cages under mechanical pressure. Herein, we propose to use deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering (DINS) to study the interaction between water molecules in hydrophobic nanopores of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) under mechanical pressure.

Principal Investigator: Dr Yueting Sun
Experimenter: Mr Xiaochuan Liu
Local Contact: Dr Matthew Krzystyniak
Experimenter: Dr Timothy Easun
Experimenter: Dr Titas Pramanik

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520017

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520017

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

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

For Example:
Dr Yueting Sun et al; (2026): In-situ Deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks under Pressurised Intrusion of Water, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520017

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