Mapping short-range order at the nanoscale in metal–organic framework and inorganic glass composites
Joonatan E. M. Laulainen, Duncan N. Johnstone, I. N. Bogachev, Louis Longley, Courtney Calahoo, Lothar Wondraczek, David A. Keen, Thomas D. Bennett, Sean M. Collins, Paul A. Midgley
Abstract
) inorganic glass. STEM-ePDF enables separation of MOF and inorganic glass domains from atomic structure differences alone, showing abrupt changes in atomic structure at interfaces with interatomic correlation distances seen in X-ray PDF preserved at the nanoscale. These findings underline that the average bulk amorphous structure is retained at the nanoscale in the growing family of MOF glasses and composites, a previously untested assumption in PDF analyses crucial for future non-crystalline nanostructure engineering.
Topics & Concepts
Materials scienceAmorphous solidNanoscopic scaleScanning transmission electron microscopyNanostructureAtomic unitsNanoporousPair distribution functionAmorphous metalMetal-organic frameworkTransmission electron microscopyScatteringNanotechnologyComposite materialAlloyCrystallographyOpticsChemistryAdsorptionMathematical analysisMathematicsOrganic chemistryPhysicsQuantum mechanicsX-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence AnalysisX-ray Diffraction in CrystallographyGlass properties and applications