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Alexander Knebel

@knebelalexander.bsky.social
228 followers 247 following 77 posts

Junior Group Leader, Carl Zeiss Breakthroughs. Scientist enthusiastic for MOFs, glasses, membranes etc. knebelgroup.uni-jena.de Based at @UniJena, Otto Schott Institut of Materials Research, Germany. Home at glas.uni-jena.de. Views are my ow

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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Congratulations @jbweiss-chem.bsky.social, @henkegroup.bsky.social and team to this amazing paper and for advancing MOF-glasses through glass chemical methode doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org
Flux-mediated ligand exchange restructures metal–organic framework glasses - Nature Materials
The organic ligand phenanthroline acts as a flux to vitrify otherwise non-glass-forming metal–organic frameworks as well as restructuring the coordination environment and network topology of the resul...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I have a position to fill as soon as possible for a DFG funded PhD project on optical modulation of MOF-glasses. If you are interested please send me your (non-AI generated) documents and describe your experience. An official job opening is coming later this months.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
With the conflict in the Middle East, soaring prices and shortages in the supply of helium, we present valuable technology. MOF membranes can sieve He from CH4 with extremely high precision. Great team effort led by Ayisha Komal. doi.org/10.1038/s432...
doi.org
Synthesis and helium separation performance of polycrystalline membranes of the high precision molecular sieve MIL-116(Ga) - Communications Materials
Helium is an essential resource for scientific research and applications in medicine and aerospace, yet its extraction from natural gas is energy-intensive. Here, the authors demonstrate an energy-eff...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
New stuff from the Knebel group, fresh from the press @springernature.com at Nature Communications: Large area free-standing MOF-glass membranes. Transparent windows that sift gases! We achieve total exclusion of CH4 with MOF-glass membranes. Check out how we did it: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org
Unlocking large-area free-standing MOF-glasses for molecular sieving gas separation membranes - Nature Communications
The unique properties of membranes made from MOF glasses suggest their potential for precise molecular-sieving separations. In this work, the authors present a step-by-step method to fabricate large, ...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Out today in Advanced Science! We demonstrate a hand-to-glove fit of a phosphorescent dye into a MOF enhances luminescent properties through FRET. A great collabortive effort between many labs and Bahrams' last paper. Took us 2 years in review. doi.org/10.1002/advs...
doi.org
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Reposted by Alexander Knebel
Kenichi Endo @kenichiendo.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
It was nice to meet some familiar and new faces in Chemiedozententagung 2026. @ettlab.bsky.social @knebelalexander.bsky.social
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Kick-Off of our new project "RespoBrane", with the groups Schacher (Uni Jena), Wyrwa (Fraunhofer IKTS), Bliedtner (EAH Jena). << 3D Mixed Matrix Membranes with Stimuli Response for Innovative Separation Processes >>.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Double feature in @gdch.de Trend Reports. Two of our collaborations are featured: Multi-level anti-counterfeiting NanoMOFs with Klaus Müller-Buschbaum @jlugiessen.bsky.social , and the CO2-capturing Phosphonate MOFs from Gündog Yücesan and with @hhu.de onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Trendbericht Festkörperchemie und Materialforschung 2026
Wie wichtig Festkörperchemie und Materialforschung sind, unterstrich der Chemienobelpreis 2025, den Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson und Omar Yaghi für die Entwicklung metallorganischer Gerüstverbindu...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
The algorythm and interface of Bluesky makes it incredibly hard to see relevant posts from peers or anything relevant at all.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Great and new collaborative work with Michael and Jiamin at @univie.ac.at on the control of porosity on the Angström-scale in MOF-glasses in vacuum. Check out the pre-print: chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
chemrxiv.org
Ångstrom Scale Pore Engineering in ZIF-62 Glasses by in vacuo Heating-Induced Amorphization
Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIFs) glasses possess both the intrinsic porosity of Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and the melt-processability of conventional glasses, thereby representing a new cla...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
The IZMM 2026 announcement is finally out! We are welcoming you to join us in Jena in June 2026. Check out the website, register and send us your abstracts. More infos on the speaker line-ups and so on will follow soon. Stay tuned! www.izmm2026.org
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
Very happy that we from @uni-jena.de could contributed to this great collaborative paper lead by Fabian and Heidi @uniinnsbruck.bsky.social, as well as @markussuta.bsky.social. We investigated multimodal encapsulation of pyrelenes as guests into MOFs. advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Resolving Dye Embedment in MOF‐5: Multimodal Evidence for Perylene‐Based Guest Encapsulation
Unambiguous discrimination between surface-adsorbed and pore-incorporated photoactive dyes remains a key challenge in hybrid MOF systems. This study presents a comprehensive multi-technique approach ....
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
Our paper on the precise control of pore channels in ZIF-62-glasses made it into the Nobel Prize Collection of @nature.com This makes me enormously proud! Thanks to everyone involved! www.nature.com/collections/...
nature.com
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal–organic frameworks.”
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Heartfelt congratulations to Omar Yaghi, Susumu Kitagawa and Richard Robeson for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025. Well deserved and long overdue!
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Just back from a great 2 day symposium between the DFG research training groups PhInt (Uni Jena) and SPECTRE (Uni Rostock). Both RTGs deal with light-matter interactions. We had a nice time, educational trips and strong scientific exchange. Svetlana, PhD student in my group, delivered a talk. 🌅
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Setup is back online. Took half a year to repair... mainly because of delivery. Not beautiful but it works and it got some upgrades. Also, it now has LEDs that blink in RGB colors 😄
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Spread the word and save the date! June 22.-26. 2026, the 10th International Zeolite Membrane Meeting, welcomes you in the beautiful city of Jena, Germany. Organized by Hannes Richter, Ingolf Voigt @fraunhofer.bsky.social and myself from @uni-jena.de web: www.ikts.fraunhofer.de/en/communica...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
A great opportunity to give a talk at the #ECerS in Dresden. "Molten MOF Membranes - ZIF-Glasses for Highly Precise Molecular Sieving". Thanks to my group members for fueling the talk with content, and to Prof. I. Voigt from Fraunhofer IKTS for inviting me.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Call for papers on MOFs, COFs, Zeolites until March 2026: “Advances in Reticular Microporous and Mesoporous Materials: Design, Characterization, Properties, and Applications" (VSI: ARMMM) in Microporous and Mesoporous Materials (IF 4.7). @elsevierconnect.bsky.social
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Our study is out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social. We demonstrate CO2-capture in a Cu-phosphonate MOF over the course of 2 years. In Jena, we did the in-situ T-dependent XRD and were amazed by the material. A fruitful collaboration led by R. Oestreich and G. Yücesan doi.org/10.1002/anie...
doi.org
Stable Ultramicroporous Metal–Organic Framework with Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Domains for Selective Gas Adsorption
The ultramicroporous pores of TUB41 selectively host water and CO2 molecules at distinct hydrophilic and hydrophobic compartments without competition.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
All 4 of our manuscripts are currently in review, some for longer but with a very delayed response. I hope they don't all come back at the same time. Quadrupple revision will kill me.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Being internationally visible can backfire when publishing with @natureportfolio.nature.com nowadays — editors started inviting 7–10 referees at once. You may face 5–6 reviews. Too many cooks spoil the broth; 3 referees is good, more referees lower the quality of peer review in my opinion.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Polycrystalline membranes from the "dense" MOF MIL-116(Ga) demonstrate exceptional performance in helium upgrading from natural gas. We thoroughly investigate the influence of crystal growth and grain boundaries on gas permeation. Read our pre-print on reseach square doi.org/10.21203/rs....
doi.org
Synthesis and Helium Separation Performance of Polycrystalline Membranes of the High Precision Molecular Sieve MIL-116(Ga)
Helium is a finite but essential resource with important applications in medicine, research and aerospace. Conventional He-upgrading from natural methane gas (CH4) is done by cryogenic distillation. T...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Three papers simultaneously submitted. One recently accepted. Only one in the making. Feels good to finally get things done again! Papers blocking the desk feels so bad. Hopefully, referees will be nice.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
If you ever get pressured to finish up a 5 year old paper with 25 co-authors on it, I can give you one advice: Say no and pretend to be dead. The more internal revision rounds you do the stronger your depression peak. They will answer-all emails with "major concerns" about their own piece of work...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Follow-up to my reviewer experience with ACS Langmuir. Invitation recieved on 08.07.2025, 4 a.m. CET. Accepted on 10.07.2025 ~8 p.m. CET. Reminder "Review due" recieved 12.07.2025 (Sa) 2 a.m. Notification "Review no longer needed" 14.07.2025 (Mo) 9 a.m. Will not review in the future.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Accepted to review a paper on Thursday. First reminder "your review is due soon" on Saturday, 2 a.m. Calm down Langmuir, calm down.
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Reposted by Alexander Knebel
Frank Hoffmann @crystalmooc.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
The #MOF Universe got a massive update with many additional information. We asked also for potential collaboration intentions - so have a look! Many thanks to everyone who took part in the survey and to the COST Initiative EU4MOFs for funding my work! crystalsymmetry.wordpress.com/mof-universe/
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Get a 3D-printer for your lab. Quick solutions for urgent problems. ASAP
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Would be cool if we could realize this biological aspect in our technical realization of membranes. Membrane technology is still suffering from a strong technical abstraction. Self-repair and stimuli-response is the way to go!
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
First day in office and I already need holidays again
media.tenor.com
homer simpson from the simpsons is standing in a grassy field .
ALT: homer simpson from the simpsons is standing in a grassy field .
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
When you come back from vacation and you have 234 emails, 25 missed phone calls and your students have 20+ questions, you remember why you went on vacation.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Our article on free standing MOF-Glass membranes published on ChemRxiv has 252 views and 217 downloads in 2 weeks. The ChemRxiv is becoming more and more attractive to the community of scientists. Hope we can overcome the publishing system at some point! chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
chemrxiv.org
Unlocking Large-Area Free-Standing MOF-Glasses for Molecular Sieving Gas Separation Membranes
Membranes prepared of MOF glasses holds significant promise for gas separations due to the absence of grain boundary diffusion, liquid processibility, and tunability. However, the inherent high viscos...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Check out our new preprint on how to prepare large area, free-standing MOF-glass membranes.They show a perfect exclusion of CH4 (undetectable) in gas permeation experiments! chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
chemrxiv.org
Unlocking Large-Area Free-Standing MOF-Glasses for Molecular Sieving Gas Separation Membranes
Membranes prepared of MOF glasses holds significant promise for gas separations due to the absence of grain boundary diffusion, liquid processibility, and tunability. However, the inherent high viscos...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Congratulations to Dr. Smirnova on passing her PhD exam yesterday. Oksana is the 2nd PhD from my group. I was minimum as nervous as you! Thanks to the committee members Lothar Wondraczek, Martin Oschatz, Felix Schacher, Benjamin Dietzek and our external referee Morten Smedskjaer.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Congratulations to Daria Poloneeva on her successful PhD defense! KAUST has a new doctor. I am happy that I was invited to serve on her committee, together with Jorge Gascon, Ingo Pinnau, Luigi Cavallo and Anastasiya Bavykina.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
KAUST is sooo cool. Its a nice place for research. Even though, I think I'd get bored being here for a longer time.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
After 7 years I am back at KAUST. Paying a visit to examine a PhD thesis at KCC. Walked around my old apartment house, trodded old paths and revisited the campus yesterday night - directly after arrival. Smells, temperatures, buildings... not much has changed. 😄
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
My favourite response to students showing me powder "this came out of my synthesis! It is of ____ color. Is it MOF?" has become "I could tell you if I were Superman. Unfortunately, I don't have x-ray eyes. Go get a PXRD :)". However, I acknowledge the enthusiasm. Students are cute.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
I got recently remembered of the darkest time of my scientific research career. I was in Madrid, Spain for a 2 week stay to conduct some measurements. They made a can of coffee for 3 days and they warmed up it in the microwave when they wanted to drink one.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Check out our newest work on luminescent MOF mixed matrix membranes as multi-level anti-counterfeiting materials through different optical and electronical responses. Lead by Moritz Maxeiner and Klaus Müller-Buschbaum. #COORNETs advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
NanoMOF‐Based Multilevel Anti‐Counterfeiting by a Combination of Visible and Invisible Photoluminescence and Conductivity
This study presents novel anti-counterfeiting tags with multilevel security features that utilize additional disguise features. They combine luminescent nanosized Ln-MOFs with conductive polymers to ....
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Today I repotted parts of my bonsai. They are ready for Spring season! Dedication for bonsai is the same as for science 🧐 now I am looking forward for their beauty in the upcoming weeks.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Svetlana presenting her work on dielectric relaxation spectroscopy on MOFs at the 36th DZT in Erlangen 2 weeks ago. Her first conference, and she had alot of interactions and a great experience with interested scientists.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Had a great time at DZT in Erlangen last week.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Ayisha giving her first talk at a conference at the #DZT36 at the FAU Erlangen about her recently published paper. Great talk and an interesting follow-up discussion.
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Reposted by Alexander Knebel
Andreas Schneemann @schneesci.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Congratulations to Ayisha from the Team of @knebelalexander.bsky.social On her paper out in Advanced Functional Materials! Nominally "non-porous" MIL-116(Ga) can be used for Helium Upgrading! Glad we could help! advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Ideal Molecular Sieving with a Dense MOF for Helium Upgrading with Highly Diffusion Selective Mixed Matrix Membranes
The separation of Helium gas from natural gas is challenging but highly important. MIL-116(Ga), a “non-porous” metal–organic framework is used as a molecular sieve to separate He from CH4. Druse-like...
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Reposted by Alexander Knebel
MOF Papers @mofpapers.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Ideal Molecular Sieving with a Dense MOF for Helium Upgrading with Highly Diffusion Selective Mixed Matrix Membranes advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/do…
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Just out in Adv. Funct. Mater.! We unlock the potential of long neglected "dense" MOFs as perfect molecular sieves. Our paper investigates He/CH4 separation with "dense" MIL-116(Ga) in a highly diffusion selective Mixed Matrix Membrane. advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Ideal Molecular Sieving with a Dense MOF for Helium Upgrading with Highly Diffusion Selective Mixed Matrix Membranes
The separation of Helium gas from natural gas is challenging but highly important. MIL-116(Ga), a “non-porous” metal–organic framework is used as a molecular sieve to separate He from CH4. Druse-like...
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Happy to be part of @elsevierconnect.bsky.social Microporous and Mesoporous Materials early career advisory board (ECCB). Kick-off just now! Looking forward to an interesting time.
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Alexander Knebel @knebelalexander.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Dr. Sebastian Leukel will give his talk "Specialty Glass Development at SCHOTT" on the 18.02.2025 at 5 p.m. CET, organized by the Division Solid State Chemistry & Materials @gdch.bsky.social. Amazing industry insights ahead! Register for free us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
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