Coordination Polymer Nanofibers Generated by Microfluidic Synthesis

Recent advances in nanoarchitectures of monocrystalline coordination polymers through confined assembly

Various kinds of monocrystalline coordination polymers are available thanks to the rapid development of related synthetic strategies. The intrinsic properties of coordination polymers have been carefully investigated on the basis of the available monocrystalline samples. Regarding the great potential of coordination polymers in various fields, it becomes important to tailor the properties of coordination polymers to meet practical requirements, which sometimes cannot be achieved through molecular/crystal engineering. Nanoarchitectonics offer unique opportunities to manipulate the properties of materials through integration of the monocrystalline building blocks with other components. Recently, nanoarchitectonics has started to play a significant role in the field of coordination polymers. In this short review, we summarize recent advances in nanoarchitectures based on monocrystalline coordination polymers that are formed through confined assembly. We first discuss the crystallization of coordination polymer single crystals inside confined liquid networks or on substrates through assembly of nodes and ligands. Then, we discuss assembly of preformed coordination polymer single crystals inside confined liquid networks or on substrates. In each part, we discuss the properties of the coordination polymer single crystals as well as their performance in energy, environmental, and biomedical applications.

Lead(II)-Azido Metal–Organic Coordination Polymers: Synthesis, Structure and Application in PbO Nanomaterials Preparation

The current study aims to explain recent developments in the synthesis of Pb(II)-azido metal-organic coordination polymers. Coordination polymers are defined as hybrid materials encompassing metal-ion-based, organic linkers, vertices, and ligands, serving to link the vertices to 1D, 2D, or 3D periodic configurations. The coordination polymers have many applications and potential properties in many research fields, primarily dependent on particular host–guest interactions. Metal coordination polymers (CPs) and complexes have fascinating structural topologies. Therefore, they have found numerous applications in different areas over the past two decades. Azido-bridged complexes are inorganic coordination ligands with higher fascination that have been the subject of intense research because of their coordination adaptability and magnetic diversity. Several sonochemical methods have been developed to synthesize nanostructures. Researchers have recently been interested in using ultrasound in organic chemistry synthetics, since ultrasonic waves in liquids accelerate chemical reactions in heterogeneous and homogeneous systems. The sonochemical synthesis of lead–azide coordination compounds resulted from very fantastic morphologies, and some of these compounds are used as precursors for preparing nano lead oxide. The ultrasonic sonochemistry approach has been extensively applied in different research fields, such as medical imaging, biological cell disruption, thermoplastic welding, food processing, and waste treatment. CPs serve as appropriate precursors for preparing favorable materials at the nanoscale. Using these polymers as precursors is beneficial for preparing inorganic nanomaterials such as metal oxides.

Artificial intelligence-powered microfluidics for nanomedicine and materials synthesis

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology with great potential, and its robust calculation and analysis capabilities are unmatched by traditional calculation tools. With the promotion of deep learning and open-source platforms, the threshold of AI has also become lower. Combining artificial intelligence with traditional fields to create new fields of high research and application value has become a trend. AI has been involved in many disciplines, such as medicine, materials, energy, and economics. The development of AI requires the support of many kinds of data, and microfluidic systems can often mine object data on a large scale to support AI. Due to the excellent synergy between the two technologies, excellent research results have emerged in many fields. In this review, we briefly review AI and microfluidics and introduce some applications of their combination, mainly in nanomedicine and material synthesis. Finally, we discuss the development trend of the combination of the two technologies.

Microfluidic enhancement of self-assembly systems

Dynamic, kinetically-controlled, self-assembly processes are commonly observed in nature and are capable of creating intricate, functional architectures from simple precursors. However, notably, much of the research into molecular self-assembly has been performed using conventional bulk techniques where the resultant species are dictated by thermodynamic stability to yield relatively simple assemblies. Whereas, the environmental control offered by microfluidic systems offers methods to achieve non-equilibrium reaction conditions capable of increasingly sophisticated self-assembled structures. Alterations to the immediate microenvironment during the assembly of the molecules is possible, providing the basis for kinetically-controlled assembly. This review examines the key mechanism offered by microfluidic systems and the architectures required to access them. The mechanisms include diffusion-led mixing, shear gradient alignment, spatial and temporal confinement, and structural templates in multiphase systems. The works are selected and categorised in terms of the microfluidic approaches taken rather than the chemical constructs which are formed.

Continuous Fluidic Techniques for the Precise Synthesis of Metal-Organic Frameworks

The continuous fluidics-based synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has attracted considerable attention, resulting in advancements in the reaction efficiency, a continuous production of complex structures, and access to products that are difficult or impossible to attain by bulk synthetic routes. This Minireview discusses the continuous fluidics-based synthesis of MOFs in terms of reaction process control, and is divided into three chapters dealing with the efficient synthesis of high-quality MOFs, the confined-space synthesis of MOF composites with diverse morphologies, and the selective synthesis of metastable products. The products of continuous fluidic synthetic process are introduced (e. g., uniform products, composites, fibers, membranes, and metastable products with advantageous properties that cannot be obtained by bulk synthesis), and their usefulness is demonstrated by referencing representative examples.

Segmented Microfluidic Flow Reactors for Nanomaterial Synthesis

Microfluidic reactors have remarkably promoted the synthesis and investigation of advanced nanomaterials due to their continuous mode and accelerated heat/mass transfer. Notably, segmented microfluidic flow reactors (SMFRs) are an important class of microfluidic reactors that have been developed to accurately manipulate nanomaterial synthesis by further improvement of the residence time distributions and unique flow behaviors. This review provided a survey of the nanomaterial synthesis in SMFRs for the aspects of fluid dynamics, flow patterns, and mass transfer among and within distinct phases and provided examples of the synthesis of versatile nanomaterials via the use of different flow patterns.

Microfluidic Generation of Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications

As nanomaterials (NMs) possess attractive physicochemical properties that are strongly related to their specific sizes and morphologies, they are becoming one of the most desirable components in the fields of drug delivery, biosensing, bioimaging, and tissue engineering. By choosing an appropriate methodology that allows for accurate control over the reaction conditions, not only can NMs with high quality and rapid production rate be generated, but also designing composite and efficient products for therapy and diagnosis in nanomedicine can be realized. Recent evidence implies that microfluidic technology offers a promising platform for the synthesis of NMs by easy manipulation of fluids in microscale channels. In this Review, a comprehensive set of developments in the field of microfluidics for generating two main classes of NMs, including nanoparticles and nanofibers, and their various potentials in biomedical applications are summarized. Furthermore, the major challenges in this area and opinions on its future developments are proposed.

Synthesis of micro/nanoscaled metal–organic frameworks and their direct electrochemical applications

Developing strategies to control the morphology and size of MOFs is important for their applications in batteries, supercapacitors and electrocatalysis. This review focuses on the design and fabrication of MOFs at the micro/nanoscale.

The crystal structure of poly[triaqua-bis(μ3-2,5-dihydroxyterephthalato-κ4O,O′:O′′:O′′′)-(μ4-oxalato-κ4O,O′:O′′,O′′′)cerium(III)], C9H10CeO11

C9H10CeO11, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 6.9100(14) Å, b = 9.1700(18) Å, c = 10.720(2) Å, α = 69.53(3)°, β = 83.56(3)°, γ = 87.01(3)°, V = 632.3(2) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0265, wRref(F2) = 0.0487, T = 298(2) K.

Continuous- versus Segmented-Flow Microfluidic Synthesis in Materials Science

Materials science is a fast-evolving area that aims to uncover functional materials with ever more sophisticated properties and functions. For this to happen, new methodologies for materials synthesis, optimization, and preparation are desired. In this context, microfluidic technologies have emerged as a key enabling tool for a low-cost and fast prototyping of materials. Their ability to screen multiple reaction conditions rapidly with a small amount of reagent, together with their unique physico-chemical characteristics, have made microfluidic devices a cornerstone technology in this research field. Among the different microfluidic approaches to materials synthesis, the main contenders can be classified in two categories: continuous-flow and segmented-flow microfluidic devices. These two families of devices present very distinct characteristics, but they are often pooled together in general discussions about the field with seemingly little awareness of the major divide between them. In this perspective, we outline the parallel evolution of those two sub-fields by highlighting the key differences between both approaches, via a discussion of their main achievements. We show how continuous-flow microfluidic approaches, mimicking nature, provide very finely-tuned chemical gradients that yield highly-controlled reaction–diffusion (RD) areas, while segmented-flow microfluidic systems provide, on the contrary, very fast homogenization methods, and therefore well-defined super-saturation regimes inside arrays of micro-droplets that can be manipulated and controlled at the milliseconds scale. Those two classes of microfluidic reactors thus provide unique and complementary advantages over classical batch synthesis, with a drive towards the rational synthesis of out-of-equilibrium states for the former, and the preparation of high-quality and complex nanoparticles with narrow size distributions for the latter.

One-Dimensional Nanostructures: Microfluidic-Based Synthesis, Alignment and Integration towards Functional Sensing Devices

Microfluidic-based synthesis of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures offers tremendous advantages over bulk approaches e.g., the laminar flow, reduced sample consumption and control of self-assembly of nanostructures. In addition to the synthesis, the integration of 1D nanomaterials into microfluidic chips can enable the development of diverse functional microdevices. 1D nanomaterials have been used in applications such as catalysts, electronic instrumentation and sensors for physical parameters or chemical compounds and biomolecules and hence, can be considered as building blocks. Here, we outline and critically discuss promising strategies for microfluidic-assisted synthesis, alignment and various chemical and biochemical applications of 1D nanostructures. In particular, the use of 1D nanostructures for sensing chemical/biological compounds are reviewed.

Cu2+-Induced length change of Ni-based coordination polymer nanorods and research on NiO-based hybrid pseudocapacitor electrodes

Porous CuO/NiO hybrids were synthesized and they displayed a peculiar synergistic effect on the resulting performances. The length of their precursors could be altered by adjusting the amount of Cu²⁺ and changing the solvent.

Extreme downsizing in the surfactant-free synthesis of spin-crossover nanoparticles in a microfluidic flow-focusing junction

A new surfactant-free, flow-focusing droplet microfluidic approach was developed as an important alternative to existing synthesis techniques for the preparation of spin crossover nanoparticles.

Terbium-Aspartic Acid Nanocrystals with Chirality-Dependent Tunable Fluorescent Properties

Terbium-aspartic acid (Tb-Asp) nanocrystals with chirality-dependent tunable fluorescent properties can be synthesized through a facile synthesis method through the coordination between Tb and Asp. Asp with different chirality (dextrorotation/d and levogyration/l) changes the stability of the coordination center following fluorescent absorption/emission ability differences. Compared with l-Asp, d-Asp can coordinate Tb to form a more stable center, following the higher quantum yield and longer fluorescence life. Fluorescence intensity of Tb-Asp linearly increases with increase ratio of d-Asp in the mixed chirality Tb-Asp system, and the fluorescent properties of Tb-Asp nanocrystals can be tuned by adjusting the chirality ratio. Tb-Asp nanocrystals possess many advantage, such as high biocompatibility, without any color in visible light irradiation, monodispersion with very small size, and long fluorescent life. Those characteristics will give them great potential in many application fields, such as low-cost antifake markers and advertisements using inkjet printers or for molds when dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane. In addition, europium can also be used to synthesize Eu-Asp nanoparticles. Importantly, the facile, low-cost, high-yield, mass-productive "green" process provides enormous advantages for synthesis and application of fluorescent nanocrystals, which will have great impact in nanomaterial technology.

Freezing the Nonclassical Crystal Growth of a Coordination Polymer Using Controlled Dynamic Gradients

A methodology that can be efficiently used to synthesize, isolate, and study out-of-equilibrium crystal structures employing controlled and diffusion-limited microfluidic environments is demonstrated. Unlike studies conducted with conventional mixing procedures in a flask, it is proven experimentally and with numerical simulations that microfluidic technologies can undoubtedly fine-tune reaction times and reagents concentration profiles; factors that enable out-of-equilibrium crystal forms to be obtained.

Dispersible lanthanide organic hybrid nanoparticles: synthesis, morphology and application

Novel nanoparticles of coordination polymers (CPs) with various morphologies are successfully prepared.

Stereoselective assembly of amino acid-based metal-biomolecule nanofibers

A series of amino acid-based metal-biomolecule nanofibers are fabricated through a coordination-directed assembly process. The chirality and carbon chain length of the amino acids exert a pronounced influence on the assembly process. This study may be extended to design diverse kinds of 1-D metal-biomolecule frameworks (MBioFs).

Structuring of metal-organic frameworks at the mesoscopic/macroscopic scale

The assembly of metal ions with organic ligands through the formation of coordination bonds gives crystalline framework materials, known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which recently emerged as a new class of porous materials. Besides the structural designability of MOFs at the molecular length scale, the researchers in this field very recently made important advances in creating more complex architectures at the mesoscopic/macroscopic scale, in which MOF nanocrystals are used as building units to construct higher-order superstructures. The structuring of MOFs in such a hierarchical order certainly opens a new opportunity to improve the material performance via design of the physical form rather than altering the chemical component. This review highlights these superstructures and their applications by categorizing them into four dimensionalities, zero-dimensional (0D), one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) superstructures. Because the key issue for structuring of MOFs is to spatially control the nucleation process in desired locations, this review conceptually categorizes the available synthetic methodologies from the viewpoint of the reaction system.

Microfluidic strategies for design and assembly of microfibers and nanofibers with tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications

Fiber-based materials provide critical capabilities for biomedical applications. Microfluidic fiber fabrication has recently emerged as a very promising route to the synthesis of polymeric fibers at the micro and nanoscale, providing fine control over fiber shape, size, chemical anisotropy, and biological activity. This Progress Report summarizes advanced microfluidic methods for the fabrication of both microscale and nanoscale fibers and illustrates how different methods are enabling new biomedical applications. Microfluidic fabrication methods and resultant materials are explained from the perspective of their microfluidic device principles, including co-flow, cross-flow, and flow-shaping designs. It is then detailed how the microchannel design and flow parameters influence the variety of synthesis chemistries that can be utilized. Finally, the integration of biomaterials and microfluidic strategies is discussed to manufacture unique fiber-based systems, including cell scaffolds, cell encapsulation, and woven tissue matrices.

Designed two-step morphological transformation: a new strategy to synthesize uniform metalloporphyrin-containing coordination polymer particles

Uniform metalloporphyrin-containing coordination polymer particles were synthesized from seed structures by designed two-step morphological transformation.

Controllable fabrication of multifunctional 1D Ag-based coordination polymer@PVP nanowires

The composite Ag-based coordination polymer@PVP nanowires have been mildly synthesized in the presence of PVP, which may be potentially applied in anticancer and antibacterial fields.

A robust microfluidic device for the synthesis and crystal growth of organometallic polymers with highly organized structures

A simple and robust microfluidic device was developed to synthesize organometallic polymers with highly organized structures. The device is compatible with organic solvents. Reactants are loaded into pairs of reservoirs connected by a 15 cm long microchannel prefilled with solvents, thus allowing long-term counter diffusion for self-assembly of organometallic polymers. The process can be monitored, and the resulting crystalline polymers are harvested without damage. The device was used to synthesize three insoluble silver acetylides as single crystals of X-ray diffraction quality. Importantly, for the first time, the single-crystal structure of silver phenylacetylide was determined. The reported approach may have wide applications, such as crystallization of membrane proteins, synthesis and crystal growth of organic, inorganic, and polymeric coordination compounds, whose single crystals cannot be obtained using traditional methods.

Solvent induced rapid modulation of micro/nano structures of metal carboxylates coordination polymers: mechanism and morphology dependent magnetism

Rational modulation of morphology is very important for functional coordination polymers (CPs) micro/nanostructures, and new strategies are still desired to achieve this challenging target. Herein, organic solvents have been established as the capping agents for rapid modulating the growth of metal-carboxylates CPs in organic solvent/water mixtures at ambient conditions. Co-3,5-pyridinedicarboxylate (pydc) CPs was studied here as the example. During the reaction, the organic solvents exhibited three types of modulation effect: anisotropic growth, anisotropic growth/formation of new crystalline phase and the formation of new crystalline phase solely, which was due to the variation of their binding ability with metal cations. The following study revealed that the binding ability was critically affected by their functional groups and molecular size. Moreover, their modulation effect could be finely tuned by changing volume ratios of solvent mixtures. Furthermore, they could be applied for modulating other metal-carboxylates CPs: Co-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic (BTC), Zn-pydc and Eu-pydc etc. Additionally, the as-prepared Co-pydc CPs showed a fascinating morphology-dependent antiferromagnetic behavior.

Localized, stepwise template growth of functional nanowires from an amino acid-supported framework in a microfluidic chip

A spatially controlled synthesis of nanowire bundles of the functional crystalline coordination polymer (CP) Ag(I)TCNQ (tetracyanoquinodimethane) from previously fabricated and trapped monovalent silver CP (Ag(I)Cys (cysteine)) using a room-temperature microfluidic-assisted templated growth method is demonstrated. The incorporation of microengineered pneumatic clamps in a two-layer polydimethylsiloxane-based (PDMS) microfluidic platform was used. Apart from guiding the formation of the Ag(I)Cys coordination polymer, this microfluidic approach enables a local trapping of the in situ synthesized structures with a simple pneumatic clamp actuation. This method not only enables continuous and multiple chemical events to be conducted upon the trapped structures, but the excellent fluid handling ensures a precise chemical activation of the amino acid-supported framework in a position controlled by interface and clamp location that leads to a site-specific growth of Ag(I)TCNQ nanowire bundles. The synthesis is conducted stepwise starting with Ag(I)Cys CPs, going through silver metal, and back to a functional CP (Ag(I)TCNQ); that is, a novel microfluidic controlled ligand exchange (CP → NP → CP) is presented. Additionally, the pneumatic clamps can be employed further to integrate the conductive Ag(I)TCNQ nanowire bundles onto electrode arrays located on a surface, hence facilitating the construction of the final functional interfaced systems from solution specifically with no need for postassembly manipulation. This localized self-supported growth of functional matter from an amino acid-based CP shows how sequential localized chemistry in a fluid cell can be used to integrate molecular systems onto device platforms using a chip incorporating microengineered pneumatic tools. The control of clamp pressure and in parallel the variation of relative flow rates of source solutions permit deposition of materials at different locations on a chip that could be useful for device array preparation. The in situ reaction and washing procedures make this approach a powerful one for the fabrication of multicomponent complex nanomaterials using a soft bottom-up approach.

Ordered alignment of a one-dimensional π-conjugated nickel bis(dithiolene) complex polymer produced via interfacial reactions

A liquid–liquid interfacial reaction between 1,2,4,5-benzenetetrathiol and nickel(ii) ion produced a π-conjugated coordination polymer that aligns regularly.

MOF positioning technology and device fabrication

Methods for permanent localisation, dynamic localisation and spatial control of functional materials within MOF crystals are critical for the development of miniaturised MOF-based devices for a number of technological applications.

Supramolecular polymerization in microfluidic channels: spatial control over multiple intermolecular interactions

A novel supramolecular assembly has been developed in conjugation with microfluidics. Self-assembly of the programmed molecules was controlled precisely, in space and time, in a microflow channel as a result of a homogeneous solvent mixing process. Furthermore, through continuous organization of component molecules followed by orientation along microflow, the self-assembling event containing different molecules was spatially controlled from nano to micrometer scale in a single stream (GMP=guanosine 5'-monophosphate).

Freezing continuous-flow self-assembly in a microfluidic device: toward imaging of liposome formation

A new method is described that combines a microfluidic device for the controlled formation of liposomes with instantaneous immobilization by means of ultrarapid cooling. The microfluidic device is composed of capillaries to hydrodynamically focus a stream of lipids dissolved in 2-propanol by two adjacent aqueous buffer streams before rapidly cooling by propane jet-freezing. The capillary containing the frozen sheath-flow is subsequently separated from the flow-focusing unit and trimmed with cryo-ultramicrotomy for imaging with cryo-scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The emergence of liposomes could be visualized by cryo-SEM without the need for chemical fixation or labeling. We demonstrate that the method is capable of revealing in more detail the formation of nonequilibrium liposomes. Partially and completely formed liposomes were observed at the miscible alcohol-buffer interface. The number density of lipid vesicles varied along the focused interface, and we frequently found clusters of liposomes. Additionally, evidence for the formation of disclike transient intermediates is presented. The method is not limited to studying self-assembly processes only. It can be extended to other biochemical reactions, crystallization processes, and even systematic interfacial mixing studies between different solvents.

Confined synthesis and integration of functional materials in sub-nanoliter volumes

We present a novel microchip-based approach to combine the synthesis, characterization, and utilization of different functional materials on a single platform. A two-layer microfluidic device comprising 10 parallel actuated reaction chambers with volumes of a few hundred picoliters is used to localize and confine the synthesis, while the surfaces of the reaction chambers comprise an electrode array for direct integration and further characterization of the created crystalline assemblies without the need for further manipulation or positioning devices. First we visualized and evaluated the dynamics of our method by monitoring the formation of a fluorescent metal-organic complex (Zn(bix)). Next, we induced the site-specific growth of two types of organic conductive crystals, AuTTF and AgTCNQ, directly onto the electrode arrays in one- and two-step reactions, respectively. The performance of the created AgTCNQ crystals as memory elements was thoroughly examined. Moreover, we proved for first time that AuTTF composites can be used as label-free sensing elements.