Nickel-substituted zeolitic imidazolate frameworks for time-resolved alcohol sensing and photocatalysis under visible light

A facile strategy has been developed to introduce six-coordinated nickel clusters to zinc-based ZIF-8 structure via a one-pot mechanochemical synthesis. This Ni-substituted ZIF-8 can selectively pick different alcohol molecules and undergo a de-coordination to form stable four-coordinated Ni clusters which shows exceptional photo-catalytic activity.