Mapping the Hierarchical Environmental Transformations of Nanoscale UiO-66 Metal–organic Framework

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) hold immense potential for applications from separations to catalysis, yet their long-term behavior across real-world environments remains unclear. Here we introduce a hierarchical exposure framework that tracks the structural and chemical transformations in the archetypal zirconium MOF UiO-66 across sequential compartments─atmospheric gases, air, aqueous media and a biological host─and resolves how prior exposures condition or prime subsequent transformations. Using synchrotron-based spectroscopy, we find that oxidative/reactive gases leave the Zr-carboxylate nodes essentially intact, whereas exposure to environmentally relevant aqueous media initiates partial shifts in local…

• DL
  Diamond Light Source

  Awards: SP35776-1, SP40080-2, MG33674-1, SP40942-1, SP35117-1
• EA
  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

  Award: EP/S022953/1
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Award: NE/B000187/1
• HE
  HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions

  Award: 101008099