Scott Thomas Meek

Metal‐Organic Frameworks: A Rapidly Growing Class of Versatile Nanoporous Materials

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent a new class of hybrid organic-inorganic supramolecular materials comprised of ordered networks formed from organic electron donor linkers and metal cations. They can exhibit extremely high surface areas, as well as tunable pore size and functionality, and can act as hosts for a variety of guest molecules. Since their discovery, MOFs have enjoyed extensive exploration, with applications ranging from gas storage to drug delivery to sensing. This review covers advances in the MOF field from the past three years, focusing on applications, including gas separation, catalysis, drug delivery, optical and electronic applications, and sensing. We also summarize recent work on methods for MOF synthesis and computational modeling.

Assessing the Purity of Metal−Organic Frameworks Using Photoluminescence: MOF-5, ZnO Quantum Dots, and Framework Decomposition

Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to characterize nanoscale ZnO impurities, amine-donor charge-transfer exciplexes, and framework decomposition in samples of MOF-5 prepared by various methods. The combined results cast doubt on previous reports describing MOF-5 as a semiconductor and demonstrate that PL as a tool for characterizing MOF purity possesses advantages such as simplicity, speed, and sensitivity over currently employed powder XRD MOF characterization methods.

Connecting structure with function in metal–organic frameworks to design novel photo- and radioluminescent materials

The exemplary structural versatility and permanent porosity of Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and their consequent potential for breakthroughs in diverse applications have caused these hybrid materials to become the focus of vigorous investigation. These properties also hold significance for applications beyond those traditionally envisioned for microporous materials, such as radiation detection and other luminescence-based sensing applications. In this contribution we demonstrate that luminescence induced by ionizing radiation (also known as scintillation) is common in appropriately designed MOFs and describe how this property can be harnessed to generate novel materials useful for detecting radiation. Through a diverse selection of MOFs, we explore the structural properties of MOFs that give rise to scintillation and photoluminescence in these materials. These results enable us to define a new structure-based hierarchical system for understanding luminescent properties in MOFs. Finally, we describe some performance metrics for MOF-based scintillation counters, such as luminosity and resistance to radiation damage, and discuss how these materials relate to the current state of the art in scintillation counters.

Luminescent Metal-Organic Frameworks: A Nanolaboratory for Probing Energy Transfer via Interchromophore Interactions

Metal organic frameworks consist of three dimensional lattices of organic linkers and metal ions. They are being studied for diverse applications ranging from gas storage and separation, to catalysis, drug delivery, and sensing (1). While some of these applications have enjoyed exte platforms for luminescent sensors remains largely in its formative stages (2). Recently, our group reported the synthesis and photophysical properties of luminescent MOFs containing stilbene linkers (3). Studies of the fluorescence emission and ion-beam-induced luminescence spectra (4) of these materials reveal significant spectral changes that can be correlated with interchromophore distances and orientation within the MOF structure. As tuning the optical properties of MOFs is necessary for their use in sensor applications, we are probing the underlying relationships between MOF structure and luminescence to build a fundamental understanding of luminescence phenomena in MOFs.