Molecularly-Engineered Kirigami Responses to External Stimuli

Paper craft, including origami and kirigami, has become a cross-cutting theme from art to industry. Kirigami-inspired design principles allow the establishment of three-dimensional (3D) mechanical linkages with unprecedented mechanical properties. Herein, we report a crystalline zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) displaying folding mechanics based on a kirigami tessellation. Pressure- and guest-induced responses demonstrate the kirigami mechanism of the ZIF, wherein imidazolate linkers act as hinges. This discovery of the concealed kirigami tessellation inside a flexible ZIF reveals foldable mechanics at the molecular level.