Inversion of Dispersion: Colloidal Stability of Calixarene-Modified Metal–Organic Framework Nanoparticles in Nonpolar Media

by Uiseok Jeong, Nesibe A Dogan, Mousumi Garai, Thien S Nguyen, J Fraser Stoddart, Cafer T Yavuz
JACS Year: 2019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b04198

Abstract

Making metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) that are stabilized in nonpolar media is not as straightforward as making their inorganic nanoparticle counterparts, since surfactants penetrate through the porous structures or dissolve the secondary building units (SBUs) through ligand-exchange linker modulator mechanisms. Herein, we report that calixarenes stabilize UIO-66 nanoparticles effectively by remaining outside the grains through size exclusion, without pores becoming blocked, all the while providing amphiphilicity that permits the formation of stable colloidal dispersions with much narrower size distributions. Using the UIO-66 dispersed solutions, we show that smooth films from an otherwise immiscible polystyrene can be made feasibly.