Melt-Sintering of MOF Glass–2D Nanosheet Composites for Enhanced Mechanical Strength and Gas Separation Performance

Abstract

Amorphous metal-organic framework (MOF) glasses offer processible microporous materials for separation, sensing and catalysis, but their practical implementation has been limited by mechanical stability and ill-defined microporous structures. Here, we report a strategy to integrate g-C3N4 nanosheets into MOF glass via high-temperature sintering. Interfacial coupling, including π-π stacking and coordination-assisted bonding, effectively guide the packing of the nanosheets, improve structural integrity, and mitigate processing-induced stress during the MOF glass vitrification. By tuning the sintering temperature, the interlayer spacing of the g-C3N4 can be adjusted and stabilized, generating more regulated transport channels. The resulting hybrid glass can be processed into membranes, showing a two-order-of-magnitude increase in hydrogen permeance compared to pure MOF glass, with the selectivity for difference gas pairs also significantly improved. This contribution establishes a generalizable method for interlayer spacing engineering within hybrid glasses, demonstrating the incorporating of 2D materials can enhance the processability and separation performance on the composite glass.