The Solvent Induced Inter-Dimensional Phase Transformations of Cobalt Zeolitic-Imidazolate Frameworks

Studying inter-dimensional phase transitions of zeolitic-imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) is essential for developing strategies in controlling morphology and properties. Herein, the inter-dimensional topotactic phase transformations of 3D ZIF-67 to 2D ZIF-L are investigated in detail by employing a simple and efficient solvent-induced growth method. In addition to ZIF-67 and ZIF-L, a series of novel core-shell composites of ZIF-67@ZIF-L, with unprecedented morphologies, are also obtained and well-defined. The different behaviors of the amine hydrogen of 2-MIM in the sol-vents play a pivotal role for inter-dimensional phase transformations, and in combination with the concentration of 2-MIM, the 2D to 3D phase transformations are also revealed. The findings are very beneficial for morphological design of the ZIFs, along with exploration of the corresponding properties. Impressively, Co-ZIFs exhibit interesting tunable CO2 adsorption behaviors with the phase evolution, which might bring broader understanding for designing CO2 detection and adsorption devices.