A novel 2D zinc(II) metal–organic framework, formulated as [Zn(L)(H₂O)]·H₂O (1) (H₂L = 4-(pyridine-4-yl) phthalic acid), has been successfully obtained under solvothermal conditions. This metal–organic framework (MOF) material exhibits efficient photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of organic dyes in the absence of any photosensitizer or cocatalyst. Its catalytic performance for rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) degradation was superior to most reported MOFs with a degradation efficiency of 98.5% for RhB and 83.8% for MO within 120 min in the absence of H₂O₂, which could be attributed to its high efficiency in generating ·O₂ ⁻ (an effective oxidant for the degradation of dyes). The possible mechanism of the reaction was discussed in detail. In addition, 1 shows stable catalytic efficiency after five reaction cycles, which indicates that 1 exhibits efficient catalytic activity and good reusability toward the degradation of organic dyes, enabling it to be a potential candidate for environmental governance.

The development of facile tailoring approach to adjust the intrinsic activity and stability of atomically-precise metal nanoclusters catalysts is of great interest but remians challenging. Herein, the well-defined Au₈ nanoclusters modified by single-atom sites are rationally synthesized via a co-eletropolymerization strategy, in which uniformly dispersed metal nanocluster and single-atom co-entrenched on the poly-carbazole matrix. Systematic characterization and theoretical modeling reveal that functionalizing single-atoms enable altering the electronic structures of Au₈ clusters, which amplifies their electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to CO activity by ~18.07 fold compared to isolated Au₈ metal clusters. The rearrangements of the electronic structure not only strengthen the adsorption of the key intermediates *COOH, but also establish a favorable reaction pathway for the CO₂ reduction reaction. Moreover, this strategy fixing nanoclusters and single-atoms on cross-linked polymer networks efficiently deduce the performance deactivation caused by agglomeration during the catalytic process. This work contribute to explore the intrinsic activity and stability improvement of metal clusters.

Combining the porous structure and fluorescence properties of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with rational design to realize multifunction application is of great significance from an energy and environmental standpoint. Herein, a new series of lanthanide metal–organic frameworks (Ln–MOFs), {[Ln(L)(H₂O)]·4H₂O }_n (1-Ln, where Ln = Eu, Tb, Gd, and Eu_xTb_1−x), were constructed by using a rigid 5-(2′,5′-dicarboxylphenyl) picolinic acid ligand and Ln³⁺ ions. 1-Ln was isostructural and exhibited a similar porous framework. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and N₂ adsorption measurements revealed that 1-Eu exhibits excellent thermal, water and chemical stabilities. As expected, 1-Eu-a (activated 1-Eu) shows a high adsorption capacity for C₂H₂ (109.2 cm³ g⁻¹) as well as excellent selective separation with ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) selectivity for C₂H₂/CO₂ (4.1–3.3), C₂H₂/CH₄ (23–17) and CO₂/CH₄ (5.6–5.4) at room temperature. More importantly, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and breakthrough experiments were carried out, which highlight its great potential to address challenging industrially important separation. Moreover, a series of bimetallic MOFs 1-Eu_xTb_1−x were constructed by changing the ratio of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ and showed excellent linear color tunability (from green to red), indicating that they are suitable for barcode applications. Furthermore, luminescence studies revealed that 1-Eu is an excellent fluorescent probe for sensing Fe³⁺ (LOD: 0.57 μM) and CrO₄ ²⁻/Cr₂O₇ ²⁻ (LOD: 0.79/0.42 μM) ions in water, with a fast response, high sensitivity, selectivity and recyclability. To the best of our knowledge, 1-Eu is the first reported Ln–MOF material with all-in-one multifunction, including excellent gas adsorption and separation, tunable light emission and efficient luminescence sensing.

A Dy₃ complex with the highest energy barrier of all reported triangular-shaped Ln₃ single-molecule toroics.