Phase Engineering of Zirconium MOFs Enables Efficient Osmotic Energy Conversion: Structural Evolution Unveiled by Direct Imaging

Creating structural defects in a controlled manner within metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) poses a significant challenge for synthesis, and concurrently, identifying the types and distributions of these defects is also a formidable task for characterization. In this study, we demonstrate that by employing 2-sulfonylterephthalic acid as the ligand for synthesizing Zr (or Hf)-based MOFs, a crystal phase transformation from the common fcu topology to the rare jmt topology can be easily facilitated using a straightforward mixed-solvent strategy. The jmt phase, characterized by an extensively open framework, can be considered a derivative of the fcu phase, generated through the introduction of missing-cluster defects. We have explicitly identified both MOF phases, their intermediate states, and the novel core–shell structures they form using ultralow-dose high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. In addition to facilitating phase engineering, the incorporation of sulfonic groups in MOFs imparts ionic selectivity, making them applicable for osmotic energy harvesting through mixed matrix membrane fabrication. The membrane containing the jmt-phase MOF exhibits an exceptionally high peak power density of 10.08 W m–2 under a 50-fold salinity gradient (NaCl: 0.5 M|0.01 M), which surpasses the threshold of 5 W m–2 for commercial applications and can be attributed to the combination of large pore size, extensive porosity, and abundant sulfonic groups in this novel MOF material.