Improving Stability, Crystallinity, and Photo-Responsiveness of Supramolecular Frameworks by Surface Polymerization

Tao Yang, Xue-mei Li, Yang Liu, Chao Wei, Mingrui Zuo, Tianyu Guo, Guoliang Liu*, Lifeng Ding, Xiao-Qin Liu, Lin-Bing Sun*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Metal–organic cage-based photo-responsive supramolecular frameworks (PSMFs) with permanent porosity have gained attention for their modular properties, controllable functionality, and light-induced reversible responsiveness. However, their high porosity and photo-responsive efficiency are often compromised due to poor structural stability upon solvent removal, limiting their potential applications. Here, a solution to overcome this challenge by employing a surface polymerization strategy using isophorone diisocyanate (IDI) to stabilize PSMF (PCC-20t) is presented. This approach results in the composite of PCC-20t@PolyIDI, which preserves crystallinity and permanent high-porosity while avoiding structural collapse commonly observed in highly porous supramolecular frameworks. Moreover, compared to activated PCC-20t, PCC-20t@PolyIDI exhibits an 18.6-fold increase in specific surface area. Remarkably, the structural variability of PCC-20t@PolyIDI can be observed in the photo-regulation behavior of CO 2 capacity under the irradiation of vis- and UV-light, showing a 27.9% change in adsorption amount for CO 2 which is significantly higher than that of the activated PCC-20t with 7.0% for CO 2. Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate the light-regulated adsorption performance is attributed to the configuration transformation of azobenzene from trans- to buckling state. The findings may pave the way for stabilizing high-porosity materials to simultaneously meet demands for high-porosity and photo-responsive efficiency.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2404869
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2024

Keywords

  • metal–organic cages
  • photo-responsiveness
  • polymerization
  • porosity
  • supramolecular frameworks

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