Speaker
Description
Designing switchable metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that respond to external stimuli (e.g., light, temperature, or guest molecules) offers significant opportunities to control their properties in advanced applications such as energy storage and conversion, gas capture and release, or regulated molecular transport. External triggers can induce a wide spectrum of responses, ranging from reversible structural transformations and adsorption-desorption cycles to photo-induced changes enabled by targeted chemical design. [1,2] Despite this potential, achieving finely tuneable and predictable responsive behaviour in MOFs,particularly in the solid state, remains a central challenge. Addressing this requires a comprehensive understanding of how these materials respond under stimulation, including not only the nature and magnitude of structural changes, but also their reversibility, kinetics, and characteristic timescales.
In this context, the dynamic behaviour of stimuli-responsive MOFs across different forms and environments is investigated using a model system. The presented results illustrate how structural evolution under external stimuli is closely linked to framework geometry, flexibility, and chemical composition, which together govern the type, extent, and dynamics of the response.[1-5] These insights provide a basis for identifying general design principles for MOFs with controllable and adaptable switching behaviour, supporting the rational development of responsive framework materials.
[1] Klokic, S.; Marmiroli, B.; Birarda, G.; Lackner, F.; Holzer, P.; Sartori, B.; Abbasgholi-NA, B.; Dal Zilio, S.; Kargl, R.; Stana Kleinschek, K.; Stani, C.; Vaccari, L.; Amenitsch, H. Nat Commun 2025, 16 (1), 7135.
[2] Marmiroli, B., Klokic, S., Sartori, B., Reissenbuechel, M., Turchet, A., Amenitsch, H.; Lab on a Chip, 2026, Advance Article.
[3] Klokic, S., Naumenko, D., Marmiroli B., Carraro, F., Linares Moreau, M., Dal Zilio, S., Birarda, G., Kargl, R., Falcaro, P., Amenitsch, H., Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 11869-11877.
[4] Klokic, S.; Marmiroli, B.; Naumenko, D.; Birarda, G.; Dal Zilio, S.; Velásquez-Hernández, M. D. J.; Falcaro, P.; Vaccari, L.; Amenitsch, H. CrystEngComm 2024, 26 (17), 2228–2232.
[5] Afanasenko, E., Marmiroli, B., Abbasgholi-NA, B.; Birarda, G., Stani, C., Finšgar, M., Hartmann, P. E., Bieber, M., Walitsch, E., Breinbauer, R., Dal Zilio, S., Klokic S. and Amenitsch, H., arXiv, DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2603.24320.