Nickel-substituted zeolitic imidazolate frameworks for time-resolved alcohol sensing and photocatalysis under visible light

A facile strategy has been developed to introduce six-coordinated nickel clusters into a zinc-based ZIF-8 structure via a one-pot mechanochemical synthesis under liquid assisted grinding (LAG) conditions. This Ni-substituted ZIF-8, denoted as BIT-11, can selectively pick different alcohol molecules according to their shapes and undergo a de-coordination to form stable four-coordinated Ni clusters denoted as BIT-11b. Alternatively single crystals of Ni-substituted ZIF-8 with a similar coordination environment to BIT-11b are synthesized solvothermally. BIT-11b also shows exceptional photocatalytic activity.