Engineering metal-organic frameworks for catalysis and energy

There have recently been significant developments in the applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). We have developed new applications of MOFs as catalysts, as supports for metal nanoparticles and as templates/precursors for functional materials synthesis. Metal nanoparticles (NPs) have been encapsulated into MOFs by a variety of approaches, especially the double-solvents method, which exhibit excellent catalytic performances. We have developed a from-MOF-to-carbon approach to synthesize carbon materials using MOFs as templates/precursors, which has distinguished advantages of morphology control and heteroatom doping. The resultant carbon materials and carbon composites with metal species, including metal single atoms, clusters and nanoparticles, display excellent functionalities as electrode materials for energy storage and conversion and as catalysts for a variety of reactions. We have proposed ʻʻquasi-MOFsʼʼ formed through controlled deligandation, which partially keep the porosity and highly expose the metal nodes of MOFs, leading to dramatically enhanced catalytic performances.