Composites of polyaniline (PANI) and Zr-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH₂, were synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of MOF templates with the MOF content in the resulting materials (78.2 and 86.7 wt %, respectively) close to the theoretical value (91.5 wt %). Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that the morphology of the composites was set by the morphology of the MOFs, whose structure was mostly preserved after the synthesis, based on the X-ray diffraction data. Vibrational and NMR spectroscopies pointed out that MOFs participate in the protonation of PANI and conducting polymer chains were grafted to amino groups of UiO-66-NH₂. Unlike PANI-UiO-66, cyclic voltammograms of PANI-UiO-66-NH₂ showed a well-resolved redox peak at around ≈0 V, pointing at the pseudocapacitive behavior. The gravimetric capacitance of PANI-UiO-66-NH₂, normalized per mass of the active material, was also found to be higher compared to that of pristine PANI (79.8 and 50.5 F g^-1, respectively, at 5 mV s^-1). The introduction of MOFs into the composites with PANI significantly improved the cycling stability of the materials over 1000 cycles compared to the pristine conducting polymer, with the residual gravimetric capacitance being ≥100 and 77%, respectively. Thus, the electrochemical performance of the prepared PANI-MOF composites makes them attractive materials for application in energy storage.

Borane cluster-based porous covalent networks, named activated borane (ActB), were prepared by cothermolysis of decaborane(14) (nido-B10H14) and selected hydrocarbons (toluene, ActB-Tol; cyclohexane, ActB-cyHx; and n-hexane, ActB-nHx) under anaerobic conditions. These amorphous solid powders exhibit different textural and Lewis acid (LA) properties that vary depending on the nature of the constituent organic linker. For ActB-Tol, its LA strength even approaches that of the commonly used molecular LA, B(C6F5)(3). Most notably, ActBs can act as heterogeneous LA catalysts in hydrosilylation/deoxygenation reactions with various carbonyl substrates as well as in the gas-phase dehydration of ethanol. These studies reveal the potential of ActBs in catalytic applications, showing (a) the possibility for tuning catalytic reaction outcomes (selectivity) in hydrosilylation/deoxygenation reactions by changing the material's composition and (b) the very high activity toward ethanol dehydration that exceeds the commonly used gamma-Al2O3 by achieving a stable conversion of similar to 93% with a selectivity for ethylene production of similar to 78% during a 17 h continuous period on stream at 240 degrees C.

In situ ¹ H NMR characterization of copolymerization reactions of various 2-oxazoline monomers at different molar ratios offers detailed insight into the build-up and composition of the polymer chains.