Examples of artificially grown crystals
muf-7a
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| Growing beautiful crystals like these is one of the joys of doing chemistry. These perfect specimens take the shape of a truncated rhombic dodecahedron. They are from a class of materials known as metal-organic frameworks, and they spontaneously grow from zinc metal ions and organic ligands. Although imperceptible at this scale, X-ray crystallography shows us that they have a sponge-like structure with large pores and voids. In fact, the internal surface area of a gram of these crystals is equivalent to an entire football field! These materials are being investigated for their ability to store gases such as hydrogen for powering next-generation vehicles. These photos were taken with a conventional optical microscope. |
Crystal details |
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| Compound name | muf-7a |
| Formula | Zn4O(btb)4/3(bdc)1/2(bpdc)1/2 |
| Dimensions | 0.2 x 0.2 x 0.2 mm |
| Mass | 0.003 mg |
| Colour | transparent |
| Keywords | inorg |
Growth conditions |
|
| Technique | Solvothermal synthesis |
| Temperature | 358 K |
| Pressure | |
| Growth rate | |
| Solvent | N/A |
| Doping procedure | N/A |
| Keywords | sol |
Comments |
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| Application(s) | Programmed-Pore Metal-Organic Frameworks; CO2 capture |
| Link(s) | http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja4100244 |
| Other remarks | For detailed synthesis, characterization and applications of this crystal, please see the original paper and the supporting information provided. link: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja4100244 |
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