UiO-7:  A New Aluminophosphate Phase Solved by Simulated Annealing and High-Resolution Powder Diffraction

Abstract

A new aluminophosphate material UiO-7 has been prepared and the structure solved. The solution of the structure is the first known example applying the recently developed simulated annealing algorithm to identify the framework topology of an unknown structure. High-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction was then utilized to carry out a full Rietveld structure refinement. The importance of fluoride, used as a means of modifying a standard synthetic gel, is indicated by its presence as part of the structure, bridging two aluminum atoms within the cagelike building block.