Multiferroic behavior associated with an order-disorder hydrogen bonding transition in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with the perovskite ABX3 architecture

Prashant Jain; Vasanth Ramachandran; Ronald J Clark; Hai Dong Zhou; Brian H Toby; Naresh S Dalal; Harold W Kroto; Anthony K Cheetham

doi:10.1021/ja904156s

Multiferroic behavior associated with an order-disorder hydrogen bonding transition in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with the perovskite ABX3 architecture

J Am Chem Soc. 2009 Sep 30;131(38):13625-7. doi: 10.1021/ja904156s.

Authors

Prashant Jain¹, Vasanth Ramachandran, Ronald J Clark, Hai Dong Zhou, Brian H Toby, Naresh S Dalal, Harold W Kroto, Anthony K Cheetham

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4390, USA.

PMID: 19725496
DOI: 10.1021/ja904156s

Abstract

Multiferroic behavior in perovskite-related metal-organic frameworks of general formula [(CH(3))(2)NH(2)]M(HCOO)(3), where M = Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni, is reported. All four compounds exhibit paraelectric-antiferroelectric phase transition behavior in the temperature range 160-185 K (Mn: 185 K, Fe: 160 K; Co: 165 K; Ni: 180 K); this is associated with an order-disorder transition involving the hydrogen bonded dimethylammonium cations. On further cooling, the compounds become canted weak ferromagnets below 40 K. This research opens up a new class of multiferroics in which the electrical ordering is achieved by means of hydrogen bonding.