Transforming fragile porous powders into robust, engineered monoliths without compromising the major porosity remains a key challenge. Herein, we address this by developing a surface-selective modification strategy that grafts aldehyde groups solely onto the external surface of porous aromatic framework-1 (PAF-1), yielding S-PAF-1-CHO. This modification preserves its pristine 1.4 nm micropores while enabling covalent integration with chitosan via Schiff-base chemistry to form lightweight aerogels with a high S-PAF-1-CHO loading. The resulting monolithic sorbent maintains a high specific surface area, great mechanical stability and achieves an exceptional benzene adsorption capacity of 5.98 mmol g^-1 (2000 ppm). This work establishes a versatile paradigm for converting high-capacity porous powders into practical, shaped sorbents through precise interfacial engineering.

The precise manipulation of chiral crystallization for the fabrication of homochiral surfaces has emerged as a pivotal focal point within the realm of surface chemistry. In this investigation, we employed a temperature-regulated strategy, utilizing the conformationally chiral molecule 1,1,2,2-tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)ethene (TPEB) as a precursor to control the chiral recognition and separation process on Ag(111) surface mediated through Br···H and Br···Br interactions. At a temperature of 77 K, when TPEB was deposited onto the Ag(111) surface, it gives rise to two mirror-image racemic structures. As the temperature increases, TPEB molecules undergo a distinct transition from existing in racemic mixtures to enantiomeric excess mixtures. This transition ultimately culminates in a chiral separation process, resulting in the formation of a single-handed self-assembled structure and the acquisition of a homochiral Kagomé lattice. This work meticulously monitored the chiral crystallization process of the conformationally chiral molecules on Ag(111) surface, capturing structures with diverse enantiomeric compositions. Moreover, through a combination of molecular simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we elucidated that an increase in temperature enhances the recognition between chiral molecules of the same handedness. This enhanced recognition, in turn, promotes the chiral separation process and steers the transition of the supramolecular assemblies from racemic mixtures towards single-handed structures. This study not only achieved the separation of heterochiral molecular conformations but also paved an effective avenue for the fabrication of homochiral nanostructures.

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a two-dimensional (2D) layered material with a structure similar to graphite and it has potential as a hydrogen and ammonia storage material. However, dense packing in the standard h-BN structure limits its surface area and prevents the B and N from being adsorption sites. In this study, the addition of Mg²⁺ during h-BN synthesis facilitated the growth of lattice dislocations and led to a cross-linked three-dimensional (3D) porous structure. A proposed formation mechanism for porous h-BN was confirmed by several characterization routes, most clearly by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Porous Mg/BNs exhibited high H₂ and NH₃ uptakes and showed potential for H₂ and NH₃ storage.

As an emerging high-energy compound, 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO) is used in military explosives and rocket propellants. However, the strong acidic corrosion of NTO, and the high sensitivity and poor thermostability of its salts, severely restrict their practical applications. Therefore, a novel strategy to design and construct energetic covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is proposed in this study. We have successfully prepared a two-dimensional crystalline energetic COF (named ECOF-1) assembled from triaminoguanidine salt, in which NTO anions are trapped in the porous framework via the ionic interaction and hydrogen bonds. The results show that ECOF-1 exhibits superior thermal stability than energetic salt of NTO. It also exhibits insensitivity and excellent heat of detonation of 7,971.71 kJ·kg⁻¹. ECOF-1 greatly inhibits the corrosiveness of NTO. In prospect, energetic COFs are promising as a functional platform to design high-energy and insensitive energetic materials.

The design and synthesis of energetic materials with a compatibility of high energy and insensitivity have always been the research fronts in military and civilian fields. Considering excellent performances of porous organic frameworks and the lack of research in the field of energetic materials, in this study, a new concept named energetic porous aromatic frameworks (EPAFs) is proposed. The strategy of coating high energy explosives such as 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) and 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane (HMX) in the EPAFs by wet-infiltration method has successfully realized the assembly of target energetic composite materials. The results show that the 75 wt.% CL-20@EPAF-1 possesses the safer impact sensitivity of 31.4 J than that of CL-20 (4.0 J). Notably, for 75 wt.% CL-20@EPAF-1, in addition to the superior detonation performances of the detonation velocity (8,761 m·s⁻¹) and detonation pressure (31.27 GPa), the synergistic effect of the nitrogen-rich EPAFs and the nitramines high energy explosives results in a higher heat of detonation that surpasses the most of pristine high explosives and reported novel energetic materials. In prospect, energetic porous aromatic frameworks could be a promising and inspiring strategy to build high energy insensitive energetic materials.