Engineering Metal–Phenolic Network Materials through Compositional Tuning of Phenolic Molecules

Abstract

Metal–phenolic coordination between polyphenols and metal ions is a well-established chemistry for preparing supramolecular assemblies. The selection of building blocks for assembly can influence the physicochemical properties of the assembled structures (e.g., morphology, permeability, and functionality). Herein, the compositional engineering of commercially available tannic acid, a commonly used polyphenol in assembly, is demonstrated to tailor the properties of metal–phenolic network (MPN) capsules. Through purification via preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, the composition of commercial tannic acid (cTA)—which consists of a mixture of phenolic compounds—is refined into “..