MFU-type metal-organic frameworks as host materials of confined supercooled liquids

TL;DR

This study explores using MFU-type metal-organic frameworks as host materials to confine supercooled liquids, revealing how pore size influences glassy dynamics compared to bulk behavior.

Contribution

It demonstrates that MFU-type MOFs are effective hosts for studying confined glassy liquids and shows how confinement affects molecular dynamics based on pore size.

Findings

Different degrees of deviation from bulk behavior depending on pore size

MOFs are suitable for confinement investigations of glassy dynamics

Dielectric spectroscopy reveals pore size influences molecular motion

Abstract

In this work we examine the use of metal-organic framework (MOF) systems as host materials for the investigation of glassy dynamics in confined geometry. We investigate the confinement of the molecular glass former glycerol in three MFU-type MOFs with different pore sizes and study the dynamics of the confined liquid via dielectric spectroscopy. In accord with previous reports on confined glass formers, we find different degrees of deviations from bulk behavior depending on pore size, demonstrating that MOFs are well-suited host systems for confinement investigations.