Metal Coordination Polymer Framework Governed by Heat of Hydration for Noninvasive Differentiation of Alkali Metal Series

We illustrate that
the extent of hydration and consequently the
heat of hydration of alkali metal ions can be utilized to control
their insertion/deinsertion chemistry in a redox active metal coordination
polymer framework (CPF) electrode. The formal redox potential of CPF
electrode for cation intercalation is inversely correlated to hydrated
ionic radii, with clear distinction between the intercalation of ions
across alkali metal series. This leads to noninvasive identification
and differentiation of cations in the alkali metal series by utilizing
a single sensing platform.