Biobased Interpenetrating Polymer Network Membranes for Sustainable Molecular Sieving.

There is an urgent need for sustainable alternatives to fossil-based polymer materials. Through nanodomain engineering, we developed, without using toxic cross-linking agents, interpenetrating biopolymer network membranes from natural compounds that have opposing polarity in water. Agarose and natural rubber latex were consecutively self-assembled and self-cross-linked to form patchlike nanodomains.

Complex open-framework germanate built by 8-coordinated Ge(10) clusters.

A novel open-framework germanate |(C5H14N2)2(C5H12N2)0.5(H2O)2.5|[Ge12.

A series of isostructural mesoporous metal-organic frameworks obtained by ion-exchange induced single-crystal to single-crystal transformation.

A series of metal-organic frameworks representing a non-interpenetrated framework analogue of MOF-14 have been synthesized by using two different linkers, 4,4',4''-benzene-1,3,5-triyl-benzoic acid (H(3)BTB) and 4,4'-bipyridine (Bpy). Interestingly, the transition metal ions in the paddle-wheel metal clusters could be exchanged by other transition metal ions via a direct single-crystal to single-crystal transformation. This post-synthesis route can be used for synthesis of isomorphous metal-organic frameworks that cannot be obtained by direct synthesis.

Two open-framework germanates with nickel complexes incorporated into the framework.

Two open-framework germanates, SUT-1 and SUT-2, have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions using ethylenediamine (en, H(2)NCH(2)CH(2)NH(2)) as templates and Ni(NO(3))(2)·6H(2)O as the transition-metal source. Their frameworks are built with Ge(10) clusters and [Ni(en)(2)](2+) complexes. In both structures, Ge(10) clusters form square nets in the a-c plane, while the [Ni(en)(2)](2+) complexes bridge the square nets via Ni-O-Ge bonds to form 3D networks.