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Perfect crystals do not exist; however, the introduction of defects can tailor the physical and chemical properties of materials. Defects in metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) have been demonstrated to be important in many applications, including but not limited to catalysis, gas separation, and energy storage. While a few liquid-phase synthesis methods have been reported to prepare defect-rich UiO-66, the heavy use of organic solvents may cause irreversible environmental problems. Here, we present a green, rapid, and facile solid-state synthesis approach to prepare UiO-66. All UiO-66 crystals remain in the nanometer size due to the limited diffusivity of growth species in solid-state synthesis without a large quantity of the solvent. The defect concentrations can be fine-tuned by the content of ethanol addition. Defect-rich UiO-66 shows excellent catalytic activity to the ring opening of epoxides with alcohols. This work provides insights into the large-scale production of defect-rich MOFs.

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Thin films with effective ion sieving ability are highly desired in energy storage and conversion devices, including batteries and fuel cells. However, it remains challenging to design and fabricate cost-effective and easy-to-process ultrathin films for this purpose. Here, we report a 300 nm-thick functional layer based on porous organic cages (POCs), a new class of porous molecular materials, for fast and selective ion transport. This solution processable material allows for the design of thin films with controllable thickness and tunable porosity by tailoring cage chemistry for selective ion separation. In the prototype, the functional layer assembled by CC3 can selectively sieve Li+ ions and efficiently suppress undesired polysulfides with minimal sacrifice for the system’s total energy density. Separators modified with POC thin films enable batteries with good cycle performance and rate capability and offer an attractive path toward the development of future high-energy-density energy storage devices.