Thermal Amorphization of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks

Each the same: A stable, recoverable, amorphous phase (see topology model) was produced by heating each of four different zeolitic imidazolate frameworks ZIF-1, -3, -4, and Co-ZIF-4. By comparing nanoindentation results, density measurements, and X-ray total scattering results, it is concluded that the structure of the amorphous phase is equivalent in each case. Amorphization was only observed in ZIFs encompassing unsubstituted imidazolate ligands.