Fast growth of single-crystal covalent organic frameworks for laboratory x-ray diffraction. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38422145/)

These scientists found a new way to grow very big crystals of a special material called covalent organic frameworks (COFs) much faster than before. Before their discovery, it took a long time (15 to 80 days) to grow these crystals, and it was hard to study them closely. But now, using a new method involving certain chemicals, they were able to grow these crystals in just 1 to 2 days, and the crystals were much larger. They were then able to look at the structure of these crystals in detail using a special machine called a synchrotron-radiation source. They found some interesting things about how these crystals are put together and how they interact with other molecules. This new method allowed them to grow 16 different types of these crystals and study them in great detail.

Han J., Feng J., Kang J., Chen JM., Du XY., Ding SY., Liang L., Wang W. Fast growth of single-crystal covalent organic frameworks for laboratory x-ray diffraction. Science. 2024 Mar;383(6686):1014-1019. doi: 10.1126/science.adk8680. Epub 2024 Feb 29.