Observation of indentation-induced shear bands in a metal−organic framework glass
Malwina Stępniewska, Kacper Januchta, Chao Zhou, Ang Qiao, Morten M. Smedskjær, Yuanzheng Yue
Abstract
Significance As a newly emerged glass family, the melt-quenched metal−organic framework (MOF) glasses have attracted considerable attention from scientists. Recently, several important breakthroughs have been achieved concerning their structure, glass formation, dynamics, and thermodynamic evolution. However, the fracture behavior of these glasses upon mechanical loading has not yet been reported. Here we obtained a fracture pattern of a MOF glass upon indentation, and revealed anomalous cracking behavior. We detected the occurrence of shear bands with a sliding extent of ∼35 nm. Both the fracture behavior and the deformation mechanism could be associated with the coordinative bonds in ZIFs. This work contributes to obtaining a general picture about the fracture mechanism of brittle glasses.