Issue 7, 2018

Smart nanoporous metal–organic frameworks by embedding photochromic molecules – state of the art and future perspectives

Abstract

Smart, molecularly structured materials with remote-controllable properties and functionalities attract particular attention and may enable advanced applications. In this respect, the embedment of stimuli-responsive molecules, such as azobenzenes, spiropyrans or diarylethenes, in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is a very fascinating approach, resulting in easily accessible photoswitchable, nanoporous hybrid materials. It is an attractive alternative to the incorporation of the smart moieties in the MOF scaffold, which usually demands complex synthetic efforts. Here, the opportunities, properties and perspectives of the embedment of photochromic molecules in MOF pores are reviewed. In addition to presenting a straightforward route to prepare smart materials with, e.g., photoswitchable adsorption properties that can be used for remote-controllable membrane separation, the photoswitch@MOF compounds also represent unique model systems to investigate the dye as well as the MOF properties and their interactions with each other. For instance, the MOF pores possess a polarity similar to a solvent, so that the optical properties of the resulting materials may be influenced by a careful choice of the respective host material.

Graphical abstract: Smart nanoporous metal–organic frameworks by embedding photochromic molecules – state of the art and future perspectives

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
19 Dec. 2017
Accepted
27 Apr. 2018
First published
30 Apr. 2018

Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2018,17, 864-873

Smart nanoporous metal–organic frameworks by embedding photochromic molecules – state of the art and future perspectives

H. A. Schwartz, U. Ruschewitz and L. Heinke, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2018, 17, 864 DOI: 10.1039/C7PP00456G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements