Executive Summary : | This proposal will explore the newly developed concept of utilizing combined host-guest chemistry of MOF materials for engineering opto-electronic applications especially focusing on electrochromism, mechanochromic, piezochromism, piezofluorochromic, and electroluminescence. Such applications have rarely been researched witnessing only few reports among myriad family of old/new structures in MOF family. The use of guest based functionalization by adopting new high concentration reaction approach of ‘SupraMOFs’ will be adopted. SupraMOF concept was devised by PI of this proposal, who has published similar concept in reputed international journals. Thus, application oriented studies will be undertaken on the pillars of SupraMOF concept. Another new regime of 3D printed functional MOF materials will be explored for opto-electronic applications involving optical metamaterials. The pioneer work has been done by the PI on 3D printed MOF materials for white light generation. Keeping in mind this background, the current proposal will create library of SupraMOFs with inherent functional properties that can be applied as smart material in various objectives. In year-I, new SupraMOF materials will be designed and developed using variety of metal complex based and/or pure organic based guest species. This will also allow the creation of guest functionalized nano MOF materials. Thus functionalized MOF materials will be harvested from SupraMOFs. Other useful form of such solid state MOF materials will be combined with other additives to generate thin films, polymer composites, 3D printed objects etc. All new materials will be characterized in order to understand its structure-property co-relation. All well characterized nanoMOF materials in different forms like thin films or polymer composites will be incorporated in a custom designed device for utilization in sensing and opto-electronic application. The best example here can be given is of encapsulation of GOx (glucose oxidase) within the core structure of MOF by SupraMOF approach, which ensures successful guest encapsulation and also produce nano structural morphology of end product. Thus, this helps in fabricating the thin film devices with much easier processing techniques like drop coating, dip coating or spin coating without loss of morphological degradation or guest removal. |