First material to be woven at nano level (Nanowerk News) For the first time, scientists have been able to weave a material at molecular level. The research is led by University of California Berkeley, in cooperation with Stockholm University. The new material is presented in the scientific journal Science ("Weaving of organic threads into a crystalline covalent organic framework").

Weaving is a well-known way of making fabric, but has until now never been used at the molecular level. Scientists have now been able to weave organic threads into a three-dimensional material, using copper as a template. The new material is a COF, covalent organic framework, and is named COF-505. The copper ions can be removed and added without changing the underlying structure, and at the same time the elasticity can be reversibly changed.

"It almost looks like a molecular version of the Vikings chain-armour. The material is very flexible," says Peter Oleynikov, researcher at the Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry at Stockholm University.

COFs are like MOFs porous three-dimensional crystals with a very large internal surface that can adsorb and store enormous quantities of molecules. A potential application is capture and storage of carbon dioxide, or using COFs as a catalyst to make useful molecules from carbon dioxide.

The research is led by Professor Omar Yaghi at University of California Berkeley. At Stockholm University Professor Osamu Terasaki, PhD Student Yanhang Ma and Researcher Peter Oleynikov have contributed to determine the structure of COF-505 at atomic level from a nano-crystal, using electron crystallography methods.