Investigating the Structure of a Defective, Disordered Metal—Organic Framework

Metal—organic frameworks (MOFs) are three-dimensional porous materials, composed of inorganic nodes and organic linkers. The incorporation of defects into crystalline frameworks has shown promise in modifying electronic, magnetic and mass-transport properties, whilst, on the other hand, highly disordered materials have also recently become of interest.Computationally, we have created several potential models for the extended structure of a commercially useful non-crystalline Iron (III) tricarboxylate system (Fe-BTC), and have started to produce an atomistic model using data collected at ISIS and DLS. We know that we can create defects within the Fe-BTC by ball-mlling, and wish to perform neutron scattering measurements on this defective amorphous system, which we can then use to produce an atomistic configuration of a defective ,amorphous MOF for the first time.