Scientists are using an old glassmaking trick to create new types of glass. This new glass is made from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These materials are special because they can trap gases like carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and they can also absorb water.
An international team, including researchers from TU Dortmund University and the University of Birmingham, published their findings in Nature Chemistry. They showed that MOF glasses can be changed and designed using methods similar to those used for regular glass.
Making Glass Easier to Work With
The researchers found that adding small amounts of compounds containing sodium or lithium changed the glass's structure and properties. These additives made the glass soften at lower temperatures. They also helped the glass flow more easily when heated. This could make manufacturing much simpler.
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Start Your News DetoxThis discovery offers a new way to create custom MOF glasses for advanced uses. These could include separating gases, storing chemicals, and making special coatings.
Dr. Dominik Kubicki from the University of Birmingham explained that glass has been around for thousands of years. Small chemical changes have always helped process glass and alter its properties.
However, MOF glasses usually need very high temperatures to soften, over 300 °C (572 °F). This is close to the temperature where they start to break down, making them hard to manufacture. This new method opens up possibilities for future high-performance materials.
One well-known MOF glass is ZIF-62. It's a porous material that can be melted and cooled into glass while keeping some of its internal holes. This makes it useful for separating gases, membranes, and catalysts.
Professor Sebastian Henke from TU Dortmund University said their method is inspired by how traditional silicate glasses are changed. By disrupting the network structure, they can adjust how the glass melts and its strength. He noted that this brings MOF glasses closer to real-world uses in gas separation, storage, and other areas.
Understanding the Glass Structure
To see how sodium additives changed the glass's internal structure, the researchers used advanced tools.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham, led by Drs. Dominik Kubicki and Benjamin Gallant, studied the modified material at an atomic level. They used high-temperature solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. These tests showed how sodium ions fit into the glass network and broke some of its connections.
Another team at Birmingham, led by Professor Andrew Morris and Dr. Mario Ongkiko, used AI-powered computer models. These models helped them understand the complex NMR data. Machine learning simulations showed how sodium interacts with the glass structure, confirming the experimental results.
The combined findings revealed that sodium does more than just fill empty spaces. It can replace some zinc atoms, which slightly loosens the structure and changes how the material behaves.
The researchers believe more work is needed to make these glasses more stable. They also want to better predict their properties and see how well they work in real-world technologies.
Deep Dive & References
Alkali-ion-modified zeolitic imidazolate framework glasses - Nature Chemistry, 2026
