Organic–inorganic nanostructures articles from across Nature Portfolio

Developing computational tools to study the phase behaviour of adsorbate molecules in complex pore architectures can greatly facilitate our understanding of phase transitions and phase equilibria in porous materials. Here, molecular simulations are used to study the hysteresis and phase equilibria of n-alkane adsorbate molecules in a metal–organic framework with both micropores and mesopores, and simulations in the canonical ensemble with Widom insertions are shown to be a powerful complementary approach to grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations.

Luminescent metal-organic frameworks are an emerging class of optical sensors capable to capture and detect toxic gases. Here, the authors report the incorporation of synergistic binding sites in MOF-808 through post-synthetic modification with copper for optical sensing of NO2 at remarkably low concentrations.

Defects in metal-organic frameworks impact their structure and properties. Here authors uncover formate defects in MOF-74 that originate from decomposed DMF solvent. NMR shows that the defects partially eliminate open metal sites and lead to a decrease of gas adsorption; the adsorption mechanism of CO₂ in defective MOF is also elucidated.

Large biomolecules cannot be loaded into conventional Janus nanoparticles with small mesopores, preventing the establishment of efficient logic-gate systems in single Janus nanoparticles. Now, an emulsion-oriented assembly approach has been shown to fabricate Janus double-spherical nanoparticles with dual-tunable mesopores, enabling the design of various single-particle-level logic systems.

Understanding the complex mechanical behaviour of metal–organic frameworks is of importance for their real-world application. Here, an in situ micropillar compression method is demonstrated to provide valuable insights into the anisotropic mechanical properties of the HKUST-1 single crystal.