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Crystalline materials have governed the development of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs), giving rise to a variety of fascinating applications such as solar cells and optoelectronic devices. With increasing interest in non-crystalline systems, the glassy state of HOIPs has recently been identified. Here, the basic building blocks of crystalline HOIPs appear to be retained, though their glasses lack long-range periodic order. The emerging family of glasses formed from HOIPs exhibits diverse properties, complementary to their crystalline state. This mini review describes the chemical diversity of both three-dimensional and two-dimensional crystalline HOIPs and demonstrates how glasses are produced from these materials. Specifically, current achievements in melt-quenched glasses formed from HOIPs are highlighted. We conclude with our perspective on the future of this new family of materials.

Funder: European Social Fund, Funder: University of Cambridge, Four novel dicyanamide-containing hybrid organic-inorganic ABX3 structures are reported, and the thermal behaviour of a series of nine perovskite and non-perovskite [AB(N(CN)2)3] (A = (C3H7)4N, (C4H9)4N, (C5H11)4N; B = Co, Fe, Mn) is analyzed. Structure-property relationships are investigated by varying both A-site organic and B-site transition metal cations. In particular, increasing the size of the A-site cation from (C3H7)4N → (C4H9)4N → (C5H11)4N was observed to result in a decrease in T m through an increase in ΔS f. Consistent trends in T m with metal replacement are observed with each A-site cation, with Co < Fe < Mn. The majority of the melts formed were found to recrystallise partially upon cooling, though glasses could be formed through a small degree of organic linker decomposition. Total scattering methods are used to provide a greater understanding of the melting mechanism.

Melt-quenched metal-organic framework (MOF) glasses have gained significant interest as the first new category of glass reported in 50 years. In this work, an amine-functionalized zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF), denoted ZIF-UC-6, was prepared and demonstrated to undergo both melting and glass formation. The presence of an amine group resulted in a lower melting temperature compared to other ZIFs, while also allowing material properties to be tuned by post-synthetic modification (PSM). As a prototypical example, the ZIF glass surface was functionalized with octyl isocyanate, changing its behavior from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. PSM therefore provides a promising strategy for tuning the surface properties of MOF glasses.

Crystalline materials have governed the development of hybrid organic‐inorganic perovskites (HOIPs), giving rise to a variety of fascinating applications such as solar cells and optoelectronic devices. With increasing interest in non‐crystalline systems, the glassy state of HOIPs has recently been identified. Here, the basic building blocks of crystalline HOIPs appear to be retained, though their glasses lack long‐range periodic order. The emerging family of glasses formed from HOIPs exhibits diverse properties, complementary to their crystalline state. This mini review describes the chemical diversity of both three‐dimensional and two‐dimensional crystalline HOIPs and demonstrates how glasses are produced from these materials. Specifically, current achievements in melt‐quenched glasses formed from HOIPs are highlighted. We conclude with our perspective on the future of this new family of materials.

International audience; Several organic–inorganic hybrid materials from the metal–organic framework (MOF) family have been shown to form stable liquids at high temperatures. Quenching then results in the formation of melt-quenched MOF glasses that retain the three-dimensional coordination bonding of the crystalline phase. These hybrid glasses have intriguing properties and could find practical applications, yet the melt-quench phenomenon has so far remained limited to a few MOF structures. Here we turn to hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites—which occupy a prominent position within materials chemistry owing to their functional properties such as ion transport, photoconductivity, ferroelectricity and multiferroicity—and show that a series of dicyanamide-based hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites undergo melting. Our combined experimental–computational approach demonstrates that, on quenching, they form glasses that largely retain their solid-state inorganic–organic connectivity. The resulting materials show very low thermal conductivities (~0.2 W m−1 K−1), moderate electrical conductivities (10−3–10−5 S m−1) and polymer-like thermomechanical properties.

L.N.M and R.E.M wish to acknowledge the financial support from the EPSRC industrial CASE award (grant EP/N50936X/1). A.T and G.B would like to thank the financial support from the Fondo per il finanziamento delle attività base di ricerca (grant PJ-RIC-FFABR_2017). Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous materials that show promise in the removal of Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs) from contaminated airstreams, though their development for this application has so far been hindered by issues of water stability and the wide availability and low cost of traditionally used activated carbons. Here a series of three MOF-activated carbon composite materials with different MOF to carbon ratios are prepared by growing STAM-17-OEt crystals inside the commercially available BPL activated carbon. The composite materials display excellent water stability and increased uptake of ammonia gas when compared to unimpregnated carbon. Such properties make these composites very promising in the fields of air purification and personal protective equipment. Postprint