Impact of Pressure and Temperature on the Broadband Dielectric Response of the HKUST-1 Metal-Organic Framework

Arun S. Babal, Lorenzo Donà, Matthew R. Ryder, Kirill Titov, Abhijeet K. Chaudhari, Zhixin Zeng, Chris S. Kelley, Mark D. Frogley, Gianfelice Cinque, Bartolomeo Civalleri, Jin Chong Tan

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Abstract

Research on the broadband dielectric response of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an emergent field that could yield exciting device applications, such as smart optoelectronics, terahertz sensors, high-speed telecommunications, and microelectronics. Hitherto, a detailed understanding of the physical mechanisms controlling the frequency-dependent dielectric and optical behavior of MOFs is lacking because a large number of studies have focused only on static dielectric constants. Herein, we employed high-resolution spectroscopic techniques in combination with periodic ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations to establish the different polarization processes for a porous copper-based MOF, termed HKUST-1. We used alternating current measurements to determine its dielectric response between 4 Hz and 1.5 MHz where orientational polarization is predominant, while synchrotron infrared (IR) reflectance was used to probe the far-IR, mid-IR, and near-IR dielectric response across the 1.2-150 THz range (ca. 40-5000 cm-1) where vibrational and optical polarizations are principal contributors to its dielectric permittivity. We demonstrate the role of pressure on the evolution of broadband dielectric response, where THz vibrations reveal distinct blue and red shifts of phonon modes from structural deformation of the copper paddle-wheel and the organic linker, respectively. We also investigated the effect of temperature on dielectric constants in the MHz region pertinent to microelectronics, to study temperature-dependent dielectric losses via dissipation in an alternating electric field. The DFT calculations offer insights into the physical mechanisms responsible for dielectric transitions observed in the experiments and enable us to explain the frequency shifts phenomenon detected under pressure. Together, the experiments and theory have enabled us to glimpse into the complex dielectric response and mechanisms underpinning a prototypical MOF subject to pressure, temperature, and vast frequencies.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry C
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Funding

A.S.B. is grateful to the Engineering Science (EPSRC DTP–Samsung) Studentship that supports this D.Phil. research. J.-C.T. acknowledges the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC Consolidator Grant Agreement No. 771575-PROMOFS), the EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Award (EP/R511742/1), and the Samsung GRO Award (DFR00230) for supporting this research. M.R.R. acknowledges the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (Basic Energy Sciences) for research funding and thanks the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Award (2017–2018). We acknowledge the Diamond Light Source for the provision of beamtime SM14902 at B22 MIRIAM. We thank the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH) for the provision of TGA and FTIR. We are grateful to Dr. Marek Jura and Dr. Gavin Stenning at R53 Materials Characterisation Laboratory in ISIS RAL for access to the XRD facilities.

FundersFunder number
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
SamsungDFR00230
Basic Energy Sciences
Savannah River Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme771575
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council2017–2018, EP/R511742/1
European Research Council

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