The announcement of Professor Omar Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, as a 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate has resonated strongly with the University of Johannesburg (UJ), followi...

Supramolecular chemistry has made substantial inroads through the development of innovative porous materials formed by the self-assembly of molecular building blocks, driven by diverse interactions,…

Le prix Nobel de chimie 2025 récompense Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa et Omar Yaghi pour avoir inventé les réseaux métallo-organiques, une nouvelle manière d’assembler la matière comme un jeu de con...

Mechano-bactericidal surfaces based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are designed using a MOF-on-MOF strategy. Two methods of MOF surface assembly, in situ growth and ex situ dropcasting, are applied. Distinct mechano-bactericidal actions are discussed, including stretching, impaling, and mechanical injury. Abstract Mechano-bactericidal (MB) surfaces have been proposed as an emerging strategy for preventing biofilm formation. Unlike antibiotics and metal ions that chemically interfere with cellular processes, MB nanostructures cause physical damage to the bacteria. The antibacterial performance of artificial MB surfaces relies on rational control of surface features, which is difficult to achieve for large surfaces in real-life applications. Herein, a facile and scalable method is reported for fabricating MB surfaces based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) using epitaxial MOF-on-MOF hybrids as building blocks with nanopillars of less than 5 nm tip diameter, 200 nm base diameter, and 300 nm length. Two methods of MOF surface assembly, in situ growth and ex situ dropcasting, result in surfaces with nanopillars in different orientations, both presenting MB actions (bactericidal efficiency of 83% for E. coli ). Distinct MB mechanisms, including stretching, impaling, and mechanical injury, are discussed with the observed bacterial morphology on the obtained MOF surfaces.

In the field of metal–organic frameworks, the use of yttrium(iii) cations and the formation of 3D inorganic building units are rather rare. Here we report an yttrium(iii) metal–organic framework based...