ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

In-situ Quasi Elastic Neutron Scattering of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks under Pressurised Intrusion of Aqueous Solutions

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. Critically, we found that controlling the nature and concentration of aqueous solutions can effectively tune the intrusion and extrusion behaviours and allow the material system to work at almost any pressure. However, fundamental mechanisms are not well understood due to the challenge in probing the presence and mobility of these molecules inside the frameworks under high pressure. We propose using Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering (QENS) to study the dynamics of liquid solutions within hydrophobic Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) under pressure. We carried out the first experiment (2510622, IRIS), which demonstrated the feasibility of this approach. However, due to the constraint of one sample change per day and a temperature control issue we experienced over the first day, we were unable to test all the proposed samples. Therefore, we propose continuing the study to complete the testing.

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

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2610415

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2610415

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 Quasi Elastic Neutron Scattering of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks under Pressurised Intrusion of Aqueous Solutions, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2610415

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