Tunable Mixed-Valence Doping toward Record Electrical Conductivity in a Three-Dimensional Metal-Organic Framework

J Am Chem Soc. 2018 Jun 20;140(24):7411-7414. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b03604. Epub 2018 Jun 6.

Abstract

Partial oxidation of an iron-tetrazolate metal-organic framework (MOF) upon exposure to ambient atmosphere yields a mixed-valence material with single-crystal conductivities tunable over 5 orders of magnitude and exceeding 1 S/cm, the highest for a three-dimensionally connected MOF. Variable-temperature conductivity measurements reveal a small activation energy of 160 meV. Electronic spectroscopy indicates the population of midgap states upon air exposure and corroborates intervalence charge transfer between Fe2+ and Fe3+ centers. These findings are consistent with low-lying Fe3+ defect states predicted by electronic band structure calculations and demonstrate that inducing metal-based mixed valency is a powerful strategy toward realizing high and systematically tunable electrical conductivity in MOFs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.