Meltable MOF glass made with ionic liquid

Mixing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with ionic liquids makes for meltable porous materials, researchers have discovered. Such MOF glasses could find applications in gas separation and water treatment.

‘These hybrid materials combine the adsorbing properties of powdered MOFs and the processability of glass,’ explains Lothar Wondraczek from the University of Jena, Germany, who led the study together with Thomas Bennett from the University of Cambridge, UK. ‘We may mould-melted MOFs into any shape,’ Wondraczek adds.