Dr. Stefano Canossa : Redefining complexity in MOF crystals by single-crystal total scattering methods
Abstract : “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”. As German Nobel laureate Max Planck reportedly said these words, he most certainly had no idea about MOFs, yet this quote describes remarkably well an ongoing revolution in how chemists understand reticular structures. Defects and disorder are gradually leaving their status of merely exotic or accidental features, as they also become identity markers of a given framework by virtue of their multivariate and correlated arrangement in the crystal [1]. We are increasingly aware that such characteristics are ubiquitous, since essentially any crystal contains imperfections that have often been ignored due to over-reliance on the conventional ‘average unit cell’ approximation. In this context, single-crystal total scattering analysis offers the unique advantage of providing 3D-resolved information on the real atomic structures of crystals with essentially no limitation of type, composition or size.
In this lecture I describe how this still-rare crystallographic method delivers such information by presenting published and undisclosed results, which reveal how ordinary MOFs can hide extraordinary and unexpected complexity in the form of correlated defects and disorder [2, 3].
[1] Canossa, S. Yaghi, O. M. et al. 2023. Nature Reviews Materials 8, 331–340.
[2] Canossa, S., Lotsch, B. V. et al. 2023. Journal of the American Chemical Society 145, 10051–10060.
[3] S. Griffin, S. Canossa, N. Champness et al, 2025. Nature Communications (ASAP)
Bio : After graduating in 2018 at the University of Parma (Italy) with a thesis on the modelling of MOF crystal structure and disorder by single-crystal diffraction analysis, I have spent 6 years as postdoctoral researcher at the technical University of Delft, University of Antwerp, and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. During this period, I developed data processing and modelling tools for the analysis of MOFs using 3D diffuse scattering from single crystals using both X-ray and electron crystallography. By leveraging on these techniques to obtain 3D information on MOF aperiodicity, I have been studying the possibility of synthetically controlling their structural disorder and defects, which remain my primary interest in reticular chemistry.
In March 2024, I joined the Inorganic Chemistry Department and the Small Molecule Crystallography center at ETH Zurich, where I am continuing my total scattering research as Senior scientist.
In this lecture I describe how this still-rare crystallographic method delivers such information by presenting published and undisclosed results, which reveal how ordinary MOFs can hide extraordinary and unexpected complexity in the form of correlated defects and disorder [2, 3].
[1] Canossa, S. Yaghi, O. M. et al. 2023. Nature Reviews Materials 8, 331–340.
[2] Canossa, S., Lotsch, B. V. et al. 2023. Journal of the American Chemical Society 145, 10051–10060.
[3] S. Griffin, S. Canossa, N. Champness et al, 2025. Nature Communications (ASAP)
Bio : After graduating in 2018 at the University of Parma (Italy) with a thesis on the modelling of MOF crystal structure and disorder by single-crystal diffraction analysis, I have spent 6 years as postdoctoral researcher at the technical University of Delft, University of Antwerp, and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. During this period, I developed data processing and modelling tools for the analysis of MOFs using 3D diffuse scattering from single crystals using both X-ray and electron crystallography. By leveraging on these techniques to obtain 3D information on MOF aperiodicity, I have been studying the possibility of synthetically controlling their structural disorder and defects, which remain my primary interest in reticular chemistry.
In March 2024, I joined the Inorganic Chemistry Department and the Small Molecule Crystallography center at ETH Zurich, where I am continuing my total scattering research as Senior scientist.
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Organizer
- Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering
Contact
- Wendy Queen
wendy.queen@epfl.ch