Mixed Metal-Organic Framework Mixed-Matrix Membranes: Insights into Simultaneous Moisture-Triggered and Catalytic Delivery of Nitric Oxide using Cryo-scanning Electron Microscopy.

The fundamental chemical and structural diversity of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is vast, but there is a lack of industrial adoption of these extremely versatile compounds. To bridge the gap between basic research and industry, MOF powders must be formulated into more application-relevant shapes and/or composites. Successful incorporation of varying ratios of two different MOFs, CPO-27-Ni and CuBTTri, in a thin polymer film represents an important step toward the development of mixed MOF mixed-matrix membranes.

A facile "bottom-up" approach to prepare free-standing nano-films based on manganese coordination clusters.

We present herein a novel method to prepare free-standing Dried Foam Films (DFFs) whereby individual polynuclear manganese complexes cover quantitatively the holes of micro-grids; the fabricated, homogeneous films have a cross-sectional thickness of only ca. 5 nm and are characterised by high mechanical stability.

Chemical nano-gardens: growth of salt nanowires from supramolecular self-assembly gels.

In this article, we examine the phenomenon of single-crystal halide salt wire growth at the surface of porous materials. We report the use of a single-step casting technique with a supramolecular self-assembly gel matrix that upon drying leads to the growth of single-crystal halide (e.g.

Operation of TEAM I in a user environment at NCEM.

TEAM I is the final product of the Transmission Electron Aberration-corrected Microscope (TEAM) Project, a collaborative project funded by the Department of Energy with the goal of designing and building a platform for a next generation aberration-corrected electron microscope capable of image resolution of up to 50 pm. The TEAM instrument incorporates a number of new technologies, including spherical- and chromatic-aberration correction, an all-piezo-electric sample stage and an active-pixel direct electron detector. This article describes the functionality of this advanced instrumentation, its response to changes in environment or operating conditions, and its stability during daily operation within the National Center for Electron Microscopy user facility.

Europium-directed self-assembly of a luminescent supramolecular gel from a tripodal terpyridine-based ligand.

Eu(III), the last piece in the puzzle: Europium-induced self-assembly of ligands having a C(3)-symmetrical benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide core results in the formation of luminescent gels. Supramolecular polymers are formed through hydrogen bonding between the ligands. The polymers are then brought together into the gel assembly through the coordination of terpyridine ends by Eu(III) ions (blue dashed arrow: distance between two ligands in the strand direction).

Synthesis and self-assembly of ultrathin Ni(x)Fe(1-x)(OH)2 nanodiscs via a wet-chemistry method.

Self-assembled ultrathin Ni(x)Fe(1-x)(OH)2 nanodiscs have been synthesized by using a wet-chemistry method. The uniformity and the assembly of Ni(x)Fe(1-x)(OH)2 nanostructures are sensitive to the iron ion concentration in the precursor. An optimum iron concentration of 10% results in the formation of uniform ultrathin Ni(x)Fe(1-x)(OH)2 nanodiscs with a typical side length of 50 nm and a thickness of 10 nm.

Surface energy driven agglomeration and growth of single crystal metal wires.

We introduce a novel wire growth technique that involves simply heating a multilayer film specifically designed to take advantage of the different surface energies of the substrate and film components. In all cases the high surface energy component is extruded as a single crystal nanowire. Moreover we demonstrate that patterning the bilayer film generates localized surface agglomeration waves during the anneal that can be exploited to position the grown wires.