An international research team has found that new forms of glass can be adjusted in the same way as traditional glasses, making them easier to manufacture.
The project, which included scientists from the University of Birmingham (UK) and TU Dortmund University (Germany), focused on a new type of glass made from metal–organic frameworks (MOFs).
MOFs consist of metal atoms connected by organic molecules that can trap water and gases like CO₂ and hydrogen.
The team discovered that MOF glasses can be tuned and engineered in the same way as traditional glasses.
By adding small chemical compounds containing sodium or lithium, the researchers were able to change the behaviour and structure of the glass.
The chemicals lower the temperature at which the glass softens and change how easily it flows when heated, which makes manufacturing easier.
The discovery provides a new design framework for making customised MOF glasses for advanced technological applications.
The process could unlock new possibilities for high performance materials used in gas separation, chemical storage, and advanced coatings.
Dr Dominik Kubicki, from the University of Birmingham, said: “Glass has been part of human civilisation for millennia. From ancient Mesopotamia to modern fibre-optic cables, small amounts of chemical modifiers make it easier to process glass and change its functional properties.
“However, MOF glasses soften only at high temperatures – above 300 °C – close to their degradation temperature, making manufacturing challenging and limiting broader use. This discovery unlocks new possibilities for future high-performance materials.”
From left to right: Dr Mario Ongkiko, Dr Dominik Kubicki, and Professor Andrew Morris.
One of the best-known examples of MOF glass is ZIF-62, a porous material that can be melted and cooled into a glass while retaining part of its internal porosity; which makes it attractive for applications in gas separation, membranes, and catalysis.
Understanding how the sodium additives alter the internal structure of the glass required advanced characterisation techniques.
University of Birmingham researchers – led by Drs Dominik Kubicki and Benjamin Gallant – contributed atomic-level analysis of the modified glass structure, as well as performing high-temperature solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy experiments at the UK High-Field Solid-State NMR Facility.
This work allowed the team to understand precisely how sodium ions integrate into the glass network and how they disrupt its connectivity.
Birmingham researchers, led by Professor Andrew Morris and Dr Mario Ongkiko, used AI-driven computational modelling to interpret complex NMR data.
Using machine-learning-assisted simulations revealed how sodium interacted with the glass structure – a critical validation of the experimental observations.
The experimental and computational insights revealed that sodium does not just fill empty spaces, but takes the place of some zinc atoms, which gently loosens the structure.
Now that it is known how to tweak these glasses, more research is required to learn how to make the materials more stable, predict their behaviour better, and test how useful they are in real‑world technologies.