Electrical Conductivity in a Porous, Cubic Rare-Earth Catecholate

Electrically
conductive metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)
provide a rare example of porous materials that can efficiently transport
electrical current, a combination that is favorable for a variety
of technological applications. The vast majority of such MOFs are
highly anisotropic in both their structures and properties: Only two
electrically conductive MOFs reported to date exhibit cubic structures
that enable isotropic charge transport. Here we report a new family
of intrinsically porous frameworks made from rare-earth nitrates and
hexahydroxytriphenylene. The materials feature a novel hexanuclear
secondary building unit and form cubic, porous, and intrinsically
conductive structures, with electrical conductivities reaching 10–5 S/cm and surface areas of up to 780 m2/g. By expanding the list of MOFs with isotropic charge transport,
these results will help us to improve our understanding of design
strategies for porous electronic materials.