Sandia National Laboratories researchers Mark Allendorf, left, Alec Talin, center, and Francois Leonard measure the conductivity of a metal-organic framework (MOF) device. As described in a paper published in Science magazine, the team developed a technique that increases the electrical conductivity of one MOF by over six orders of magnitude. (Credit: Dino Vournas)

Sandia National Laboratories’ Alec Talin inspects a silicon chip coated with a thin oxide layer, an array of platinum electrodes and a MOF film. Optical absorption and interference in the MOF and silicon-dioxide layers give rise to the deep blue color. (Credit: Dino Vournas)

In experiments, Sandia National Laboratories researchers added a molecule known as TCNQ to a metal-organic framework (MOF). This short animation depicts the chain of TCNQ molecules that creates an electrically conducting path through the MOF structure. The turquoise spheres represent carbon atoms, white are hydrogen, blue are nitrogen, red are oxygen and bronze are copper. (Credit: Sandia National Laboratories)

Read: Pioneering Path to Electrical Conductivity in ‘Tinker Toy’ Materials to Appear in Science