Metal-Organic Framework Glasses for Energy, Luminescence, and Membrane Technology: - a Plenary Talk

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a rapidly expanding family of crystalline materials with great potential for applications in advanced technologies. In 2015, we discovered that some of MOFs can be melt-quenched to glass state. Since then, the research activities on MOF glasses have been rapidly developing and numerous breakthroughs have been made concerning their microstructure and physical properties, as well as the mechanisms of MOF melting and glass formation. Recently, we found that MOF glasses are an excellent class of functional materials for Li-ion batteries, photonic devices and gas-separation membranes. Furthermore, we have succeeded in producing large size glasses from some MOFs and this is a crucial step towards the future applications of MOF glasses. In my talk, I will first review the current understanding of the structure, dynamics and properties of these glasses. Then I will demonstrate some interesting electrochemical behavior of the first MOF glass anode that we developed for Li-ion batteries. I also show both the photonic functions and the gas-separation capability of MOF glasses. Finally, I will give my view about the future of MOF glass research and development.