This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Researchers at TU Dortmund University, Paderborn University, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the University of Oxford have developed a new method for selectively modifying the internal structure of specific types of glass. The study, published in the journal Nature Materials, shows how adding an organic molecule during melting causes the chemical bonds in the material to rearrange.
The process reduces the required processing temperature, prevents the substance from decomposing, and allows the magnetic and optical properties to be precisely tuned. These specialized glasses are used, among other things, in gas storage, batteries, optical applications and catalysis. "We have found a way to chemically modify the structure of glasses derived from so-called metal-organic framework compounds—or MOFs for short—right during the manufacturing process," explains Dr.
Sebastian Henke from TU Dortmund University, who led the study. To achieve this, the experts used 1,10-phenanthroline. The molecule lowers the melting point while simultaneously altering how the metal atoms in the glass are bonded together.
The major advantage is that researchers could develop glasses with magnetic or light-emitting properties that were previously impossible to achieve without destroying the material through extreme heat. "Normally, glass is formed when a molten liquid cools rapidly. The solid structure then sets without the atoms arranging themselves in a regular pattern.
Until now, researchers often had to accept the chemistry of these glasses as dictated by the starting material," Henke explains. The team has now shown that this does not always have to be the case. This is because MOFs consist of metal centers held together by organic compounds.
These structures can be fundamentally altered while in a liquid state by adding phenanthroline. "The crucial point is that the molecule does not simply remain as a filler," Henke continues. "It enters into a reaction.
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