Toward the Rational Design of Open-Framework Materials
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Toward the Rational A
s we were preparing this article by Anthony K. Cheetham and C.N.R. Rao for publication, reports of the tsunami resulting from the 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean last December grabbed our hearts. Immediately we thought of our many friends and colleagues around the world. We were glad to hear that those we knew and their families were safe, but our view is small and the stories are many. Among those who escaped to safety was C.N.R. Rao, who had been vacationing with his family in Sri Lanka. They were riding a boat on a river close to Galle in southwest Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck. They managed to find their way to shore and caught a bus out of town, leaving behind their damaged hotel and tragic memories. This news reaching the Materials Research Society headquarters reminded us in a very personal way that the scientific community is not only a group of scientists doing their jobs, but also a world community of people. This article by Cheetham and Rao is itself a testimony of that view. It is our first publication of an article based on the IUMRS Somiya Award, an international award recognizing materials research collaboration across at least two continents. In Cheetham and Rao’s article and the accompanying sidebar, we see both the independence of science from borders as well as the bonds that form out of the unique backdrops of our lives. Perhaps materials science itself will find defenses to such natural disasters as tsunamis—through resilient low-cost building materials, sensing and warning systems, materials to assist in water purification, and understanding the behavior of the earth itself. At this poignant time, we send our concern and good wishes to all of the people affected by this tsunami, and we look for ways that science and scientists can improve circumstances around the world through our intercontinental reach. —Eds.
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 30 • FEBRUARY 2005
Design of OpenFramework Materials
Anthony K. Cheetham and C.N.R. Rao Abstract In spite of the enormous level of interest in open-framework materials (materials with porous channel structures, such as zeolites), the mechanisms by which they are formed are in many cases poorly understood. As a consequence, our ability to design reaction conditions that might lead to the formation of particular crystal architectures is quite limited. This article discusses the state of the art in this area, with particular emphasis on our joint work that was recently recognized by the 2004 Somiya Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS) and presented at the 2004 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting/IUMRS 9th International Conference on Electronic Materials. Keywords: adsorption, catalytic materials, hydrothermal conditions, open-framework materials, structure, zeolites.
Introduction There has been an explosion of interest in open-framework materials during the last 15 years, driven largely by the potential of these porous-structure materials for applications in catalysis, separations, and other
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