Nanospaces Multitask to Synthesize Polymers

A research team at the University of Tokyo has developed a new polymer synthesis method inspired by biological systems, which are highly efficient at molecular sorting and compartmentalized reactions. This technique enables the automatic sorting, alignment, and polymerization of different monomers in a single step, without requiring prior separation or purification. By employing a metal-organic frameworks (MOF) with two distinct types of nanoscale pores, the team successfully directed each monomer into specific pores, where they underwent independent polymerization to yield pure homopolymers from a mixed monomer feed.

Image: Tokyo University

This “multi-tasking” synthetic approach marks the first demonstration of such one-step sorting polymerization. It also enables the formation of highly ordered polymer arrays in which two different polymer chains are aligned alternately at the molecular level, a structural arrangement that has long been considered difficult to realize. The technique offers a new pathway for the efficient creation of next-generation functional materials directly from complex mixtures, with promising applications in areas such as energy conversion and molecular electronics.

Image: Tokyo University

Papers

Journal: Nature Communications

Title: Sorting polymerization in a bichannel metal-organic framework

Authors: Keat Beamsley, Nobuhiko Hosono^*, Takashi Uemura^*

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62322-8