Scientists have created a new family of materials whose behaviour can be tuned by changing their metallic ‘recipe’ - opening new possibilities for uses including gas storage and sensing.
Led by the University of Birmingham, chemists have created a highly adaptable metal-organic framework (MOF), where- metal atoms are connected by organic molecules to create highly ordered structures containing tiny pores.
Publishing their discovery in Angewandte Chemie , the team have shown that changing the proportions of metals within the material can alter properties including magnetism, porosity, light absorption, and CO₂ uptake.
Researchers from the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham, and Limerick created materials capable of incorporating up to 16 different metals into the same crystal structure, the highest number yet achieved in a MOF.
Corresponding author Professor Neil Champness, from the University of Birmingham, said: “Our findings confirm a route towards ‘programmable’ porous materials, where scientists could choose a combination of metals to dial magnetic, optical, chemical, or gas-adsorption behaviour.
“The ability to predict how strongly particular metals will be incorporated potentially offers much finer control over future multi-metal materials. Rather than having to invent a completely new material every time they want different properties, researchers can potentially change the metallic ‘recipe’ within the same underlying structure.”
Multi-metal materials for many applications
The composition and porosity of MOFs mean that these materials are being investigated for uses ranging from gas storage and separation to sensing, catalysis, bio-imaging and magnetic materials. Porosity is the key structural feature that creates the internal space necessary for MOFs to interact with target molecules. Researchers first created and structurally characterised 15 individual versions of UoB-116, each incorporating a different rare-earth metal. They then progressively combined 2, 4, 12 and 15 metals within the same underlying structure.
Finally, they added indium to produce a MOF containing 16 different metals simultaneously, including yttrium, indium and 14 lanthanides. UoB-116 is the first reported MOF combining metals from three different regions of the periodic table (d-, p- and f-blocks) within the same framework.
Changing the proportions of two of the 16 metals - dysprosium and lanthanum - the team showed that changing that balance changes several properties:
The ability to predict how strongly particular metals will be incorporated potentially offers much finer control over future multi-metal materials. MOFs already serve as custom molecular sponges across major industries including:
ENDS
For more information, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager @ University of Birmingham - t.moran@bham.ac.uk or +44 (0)7827 832312
‘ Rare-Earth Multivariate Metal–Organic Frameworks: Cationic Radius Biased Compositional Control and Property Tuning ’ - Adnan Ishaq, Joseph O. Ogar, Asif Raza, Danielle E. Schier, Stephen P. Argent, Musa M. Mahmud, Lucy Clark, Jacob L. Brownlee, Soumya Mukherjee, and Neil R. Champness is published in A ngewandte Chemie Novit.
Notes for editors
Angewandte Chemie
Not applicable
Rare-Earth Multivariate Metal–Organic Frameworks: Cationic Radius Biased Compositional Control and Property Tuning
26-Sep-2026