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arXiv · 2208.12289

Truchet-tile structure of a topologically aperiodic metal-organic framework

Emily G. Meekel·Ella M. Schmidt·Lisa J. Cameron·A. David Dharma·Hunter J. Windsor·Samuel G. Duyker·Arianna Minelli·Tom Pope·Giovanni Orazio Lepore·Ben Slater·Cameron J. Kepert·Andrew L. Goodwin
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Abstract

Periodic tilings can store information if individual tiles are decorated to lower their symmetry. Truchet tilings - the broad family of space-filling arrangements of such tiles - offer an efficient mechanism of visual data storage related to that used in barcodes and QR codes. Here, we show that the crystalline metal-organic framework [OZn$_4$][1,3-benzenedicarboxylate]$_3$ (TRUMOF-1) is an atomic-scale realisation of a complex three-dimensional Truchet tiling. Its crystal structure consists of a periodically-arranged assembly of identical zinc-containing clusters connected uniformly in a well-defined but disordered fashion to give a topologically aperiodic microporous network. We suggest that this unusual structure emerges as a consequence of geometric frustration in the chemical building units from which it is assembled.

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Emily G. Meekel, Ella M. Schmidt, Lisa J. Cameron, A. David Dharma, Hunter J. Windsor, Samuel G. Duyker, Arianna Minelli, Tom Pope, Giovanni Orazio Lepore, Ben Slater, Cameron J. Kepert, Andrew L. Goodwin. 2022-08-25. Truchet-tile structure of a topologically aperiodic metal-organic framework. https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.12289

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