Scientists unlock new way to engineer next generation glass

Scientists have adapted a centuries-old principle of chemistry to fine-tune a new type of glass made from metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) - metal atoms connected by organic molecules - that efficiently trap gases like CO₂ and hydrogen and even capture water.

Publishing their findings in Nature Chemistry, an international research team, including scientists from the University of Birmingham and TU Dortmund University, reveals that MOF glasses can be tuned and engineered in the same way as traditional glasses.

Researchers discovered that adding small chemical compounds containing sodium or lithium to the glass changes its behaviour and structure. The chemicals lower the temperature at which the glass softens and change how easily it flows when heated, which makes manufacturing easier.

The discovery provides a new design framework for making customised MOF glasses for advanced technological applications. The process could unlock new possibilities for high performance materials used in gas separation, chemical storage, and advanced coatings.

Dr Dominik Kubicki, from the University of Birmingham, said: “Glass has been part of human civilisation for millennia. From ancient Mesopotamia to modern fibre-optic cables, small amounts of chemical modifiers make it easier to process glass and change its functional properties.

“However, MOF glasses soften only at high temperatures - above 300 °C - close to their degradation temperature, making manufacturing challenging and limiting broader use. This discovery unlocks new possibilities for future high-performance materials.”

One of the best-known examples of MOF glass is ZIF-62, a porous material that can be melted and cooled into a glass while retaining part of its internal porosity; which makes it attractive for applications in gas separation, membranes and catalysis.

Professor Sebastian Henke, from TU Dortmund University, said: “Our approach is inspired by how conventional silicate glasses have been modified: disrupting the network structure to tune melting behaviour and mechanical properties.

“Our study shows the same principle can be transferred to hybrid metal-organic glasses. This advance brings MOF glasses a step closer to real-world manufacturing and applications in gas separation, storage, catalysis and beyond.”

Understanding how the sodium additives alter the internal structure of the glass required advanced characterisation techniques. University of Birmingham researchers - led by Drs Dominik Kubicki and Benjamin Gallant - contributed essential atomic-level analysis of the modified glass structure, as well as performing high-temperature solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy experiments at the UK High-Field Solid-State NMR Facility.

This work allowed the team to understand precisely how sodium ions integrate into the glass network and how they disrupt its connectivity.

AI computational modelling

Birmingham researchers, led by Professor Andrew Morris and Dr Mario Ongkiko, used AI-driven computational modelling to interpret complex NMR data. Using machine-learning-assisted simulations revealed how sodium interacted with the glass structure - a critical validation of the experimental observations.

The experimental and computational insights revealed that sodium does not just fill empty spaces, but takes the place of some zinc atoms, which gently loosens the structure.

Now that it is known how to tweak these glasses in powerful ways, the study recommends that more research is required to learn how to make the materials more stable, predict their behaviour better, and test how useful they are in real‑world technologies.