Molecularly woven materials for water isotopologue separation

Molecular woven materials possess intrinsic structural self-adaptability, exhibiting excellent stimulus-responsiveness and flexibility that render them promising candidates for smart materials, separation science, catalysis, and energy storage. Herein, we systematically address key challenges in precise structural construction and the trade-off between structural dynamics and stability through a strategy spanning theoretical design to application validation, successfully extending woven topologies to 3D framework systems. By introducing a unique “mortise-and-tenon” motif, 2D woven layers assemble into a novel 3D woven network with hierarchical porosity. The synergistic effect of the woven topology and the mortise-and-tenon structure endows the material with efficient molecular transport and precise recognition of subtle physicochemical differences between H2O and D2O, enabling the first realization of efficient dynamic co-adsorptive separation of water isotopologues. This class of adaptive woven materials enriches the structural diversity of woven frameworks and offers new design principles for high-performance isotope separation technologies, carrying important theoretical and practical significance.

Professor Xiao Ding is from Zhejiang University in China. His research focuses on molecular woven framework materials and their applications. He has conducted a series of innovative research works in the field of molecular woven materials, with relevant papers published in journals such as Nature Chemistry, Nature Synthesis, Nature Materials, JACS and Angew.