Themed collection Inorganic Porous and Layered Material

This themed issue honors Professor Abraham Clearfield FRSC who has been a luminary for more than 60 years in the fields of crystallography, inorganic solid-state chemistry and materials science, and has touched the lives of many colleagues and friends during this time.

A discussion of recent advances in controlling the enzyme-nanosheet interface, and rational methods to engineer interactions at these interface to build better nanobiomaterials and biodevices is presented.

Polyoxometalates-intercalated layered double hydroxides (POMs–LDHs) nanocomposites have received considerable attention recently owing to the intrinsic properties of POMs and LDHs and significant synergistic effects during the catalytic process.

Attractive photoluminescence and triboluminescence were demonstrated in layered CaLaAl₃O₇, and the intrinsic defect effects were investigated.

In this work, two uranyl framework compounds consisting of 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic ligands have been synthesized, and one of them adopts an open framework structure built from uranyl pentamers.

A tiny change in the intermediate valence of Ce has little effect on the microscopic net dipole moment per unit volume but it strongly affects the macroscopic SHG response in the visible region, as demonstrated here.

A new oxyhalide Ba₈SrPb₂₄O₂₄Cl₁₈ exhibits fascinating multimember-ring layers and intriguing optical properties.

Combination of the novel linker 2,4,6-tris[3-(phosphonomethyl)phenyl]-1,3,5-triazine and Zr(IV) afforded a layered compound that lacks extended inorganic connectivity and displays good proton conductivity.

A microporous metal–organic framework with open metal and carbonyl sites for high methane storage at room temperature.

Particle size-dependent proton conduction is studied in a lanthanum(III) metal–organic framework, PCMOF21-AcO [La₂(H₂L)_1.5(AcO)₃·(H₂O)_5.59], with a 3-D network linked by dicationic bis(dimethylphosphonato)bipiperidinium units.

A co-operative ligand approach leads to beautiful two-dimensional and three-dimensional architectures with interesting magnetic properties.

Efficient and low-cost catalysts for catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) under ambient conditions are of great significance for the degradation of hydrophobic organic contaminants.

This work reports the synthesis and multifunctionality of 2D layered coordination polymers formulated as [Ln₂(H₃nmp)₂]·xH₂O (1, where Ln = Sm³⁺, Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, Dy³⁺, Ho³⁺, Er³⁺ and Y³⁺) (x = 1 to 4).

Multifunctional Fe(II)-hydroxyphosphonoacetate and M(II)-substituted derivatives exhibit ammonia-tunable proton conductivity and photo-Fenton catalytic properties.

A series of Au–transition metal oxides supported on sepiolite was tested in the preferential oxidation of CO in an excess of H₂ under simulated solar light irradiation and in the absence of light, at 30 °C and atmospheric pressure.

Ni₁Mg₂Al₁O_x, Mn₁Mg₂Al₁O_x, 0.5Pt/Ni₁Mg₂Al₁O_x and 0.5Pt/Mn₁Mg₂Al₁O_x catalysts were prepared and their NSR performance was systematically investigated.

Dry hydrated potassium carbonate (DHPC), a free-flowing powder, has a CO₂ uptake up to 233 mg g⁻¹ (90% saturation uptake within 13 min) and excellent cycling performance.

In this study, a calcium–aluminum-layered double hydroxide (CaAl-LDH) thin film was grown on an AA6082 aluminum alloy, for the very first time, by using a facile in situ growth method in an effort to investigate the CaAl-LDH structural geometry and corresponding corrosion resistance properties.

Layered metallophosphonates featuring phenol functions were obtained as single crystal and polycrystalline powders. Thermal stability, magnetic and luminescence properties are reported.

The morphology of ZrP supports affects the loading and coverage of Co and Ni species, explaining their different OER performances.

The combination of intercalation and surface modification was used to prepare heterofunctional ZrP by two synthetic pathways. The resulting materials were used to investigate the impact of the interlayer contents on the surface chemistry of ZrP.

The reaction of nanocrystalline layered α-zirconium phosphate with a diepoxyalkane led to covalently pillared layered materials able to reversibly take up organic molecules both from liquid and vapor phases at room temperature.

The interlayer spacing of novel double layered vanadium oxides is modulated by the difference in water contents and alkali pillars. The capacity retention of the active phases is strongly dependent on the vacuum-drying treatment of the electrodes.

Zirconium phosph(on)ates containing naphthalene moieties have been synthesized and in one compound, conformational variations with 2-methylnaphthyl groups result in distinct resonances in the solid state ³¹P NMR spectrum.

Multicomponent nanopaper from the assembly of nanotubular halloysite, microfibrous sepiolite and cellulose nanofibers was developed for diverse functional applications such as slow release of antibacterial model drugs loaded into halloysite lumen.

A novel, mesoporous molybdenum doped titanium dioxide-reduced graphene oxide composite is synthesized as a highly efficient heterogeneous solid acid catalyst.

Four new lanthanide phosphonates with two-dimensional layered crystal structures have been synthesized and investigated for the optical sensing of Fe³⁺ and Cr₂O₇²⁻ ions.

Mixed zirconium 4-sulfophenylphosphonate phenylphosphonates intercalated with amino alcohols or triethylamine can be exfoliated using mechanical forces in liquid media.

Clusters characteristic of Sb(III) tartrate scaffolds sandwiching different transition metal–Sb-oxo moieties were interconnected by Cd ions to form proton-conducting layered compounds.

The strategy of constructing a 2D flexible superlattice polyoxometalate/rGO heterojunction is proposed to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices.

Polar layered metal phosphonates Zn₂Fe(notp)Cl(H₂O) (1) and ZnCo(notpH)(H₂O)·2H₂O (2) are reported. The polar nature is confirmed by dielectric measurements. Both compounds show moderate proton conductivities at room temperature and 95% relative humidity.

1 features a 2D layer formed by B–O clusters, which further linked by H-bonding to form a 3D framework. 2 is a 3D porous-layered aluminoborate with seven types of interesting channel systems built by three types of B–O clusters and AlO₄ units.

A ternary composite is fabricated via a facile method. The chemically interfacial coupling is revealed, which improves the spatial separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers and leads to superior good antibacterial activity.

Two new borates, NaK_1.5[B{B₅O₉(OH)}{B₅O₈(OH)₂}_1/2] (1) and Na_3.5[Al{B₃O₆(OH)}{B₅O₁₀}_1/2{BO(OH)}] (2), have been made solvothermally, showing a 3D porous-layered and a 3D layer-pillared framework, respectively.

Two new inorganic metal borate derivatives, Sr₅TeO₂(BO₃)₄ and NaSr₅(BO₃)(SiO₄)₂, have been obtained through a high temperature solid reaction method.

Three coordination polymers based on thiacalix[4]arene and Cu(I) halides have been prepared. 1 and 2 show predominant efficiency and excellent recyclability for azide–alkyne cycloaddition reactions.

A series of PBA@NiCo-LDH/NF samples have been successfully fabricated by a facile and in situ method, and they show exciting electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrodes with an area specific capacitance of 2004.26 mF cm⁻² at 1 mA cm⁻².

This cadmium-phosphonate network exhibited rapid and efficient adsorption of Congo red dye, as well as excellent structural stability and adsorptive recyclability.