RSC Mechanochemistry Blog

Advisory board member Lucia Maini and her mechanochemistry students at the University of Bologna have selected their favourite articles from RSC Mechanochemistry. The students’ perspectives on the articles and the field of mechanochemistry will be presented in a series of six blog posts. The first group of students will discuss:

Fluorination of mechanochemically synthesized metal–organic frameworks for PFAS adsorption in water

The article considers combining the noticeable adsorbing properties of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with fluorine functionalization to address environmental remediation concerns. It explores the possibility of employing fluorine-decorated MOFs, and it compares their properties with the non-fluorinated counterpart, as a novel anti-pollution tool to trap per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) polluted waters, since they lead to severe health issues due to their high toxicity and persistence.

TPP-mCPW(Ph) and TPP-mCPW(p-FPh) MOFs were mechanochemically synthesized, obtaining diamond-like structures that showed optimal stability in aqueous media. The structures have been assessed with PXRD measurements while the outcome of PFAS adsorption has been confirmed through ¹⁹F-NMR. The fluorinated TPP-mCPW(p-FPh) MOF has been demonstrated to have an open pore structure able to rearrange to a closed pore structure upon exposure to heating, solvents and specific guest molecules, while the non-fluorinated counterpart only partially interconverts between the two structures. This feature has been exploited to trap NaPFO molecules in the void channels of the fluorinated MOF, which engages in halogen bonding and F-F interactions that stabilize adsorption of the guest molecule, showing greater efficiency than its TPP-mCPW(Ph) counterpart.

Continuous research on these versatile and tunable MOFs can lead to innovations in many fields, such as gas storage and catalysis. In particular, this research could pave the way to sustainable, fast and effective decontamination motions, guaranteeing little-to-no waste throughout the production of the MOFs and improving water quality, which is one of the major concerns the scientific community is being called to face to date.

What drew you to study Mechanochemistry initially, and what areas have you found most interesting?
Initially mechanochemistry was just an excuse to spend more time together, but after a few lectures we found out how fascinating it is. We think it is a particularly interesting field of chemistry because it is strikingly changing the approach to materials synthesis, thanks to its sustainable and green nature, which are important aspects for future chemists like us.

Why did you choose this article, did you find anything surprising?
The initial reason that draw us to this article is the fact that it combines hot topics of the most recent scientific research, such as MOFs, which recently won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2025, mechanochemical synthetic pathways, and land pollution issues. The biggest surprise in this article is how this article offers a new perspective on PFAS decontamination with a simple, fast and performative solution.

Why is this article important, what gap in the literature does this research aim to fill?
When the pollution subject is discussed, usually, we hear only about CO₂ emissions and greenhouse gas emissions, but the water pollution is a topic that is not as broadly tackled. This article serves to bring more attention to this topic, discussing other aspects, like water pollution, which are as important. The experiments carried out in this research provide a feasible and efficient option for water anti-pollution actions that could restore ecosystems and improve human health, protecting it from this class of contaminants.

Consider the real-world applications or implications of this article, what are the strengths and/or limitations of this article that may need to be explored further?
In the article it is reported that there is a necessity to further investigate the role of fluorine in the sequestration of PFAS in MOFs, and this mechanistic point can be further explored. It could be interesting, in the future, to tailor MOFs that can perform more than one function at the same time, for example providing a combined solution for catalysis and PFAS absorption, or other joint possibilities.

Eya Arfaoui, Mary Goffe and Chiara Pasolini

Discussion of this article was carried out by three students who are currently in the second year of a Master’s Degree in Photochemistry and Molecular Materials at the University of Bologna. Their names are Eya Arfaoui, Mary Goffe and Chiara Pasolini. Not only are they a trio in this work, but also in life, they support each other through their academic and personal lives. Eya was born in Trento, she has Tunisian origins, and she is a big fan of organic and physical chemistry, novels and chit-chats in front of a hot cup of tea. She graduated in October 2024 in Industrial Chemistry. Mary was born in Bologna, she has Ethiopian origins, and she is interested in computational photochemistry, yoga and international relations. She graduated in Industrial Chemistry in July 2024. Chiara was born in Brescia, she has a deep but tormented love for electrochemistry and in day-to-day life she splits herself between chemistry, yoga, books and beers with friends.

Check out the article, published in RSC Mechanochemistry:

Fluorination of mechanochemically synthesized metal–organic frameworks for PFAS adsorption in water 

Danilo Marchetti, Enrico Dalcanale, Roberta Pinalli, Mauro Gemmi, Alessandro Pedrini and Chiara Massera

RSC Mechanochem., 2025, 2, 662-669

Discover all of the selected articles in the RSC Mechanochemistry Students’ Choice collection.

Are you ready to contribute to the future of mechanochemistry? RSC Mechanochemistry offers you an inclusive and dedicated home for the ideas, scientific language and approaches that cut across the many disciplines mechanochemistry touches. Here we are seeking to build knowledge, as well as foster innovation and discovery at this forefront of chemistry. Whether you are seeking to understand the fundamentals of mechanochemistry, or you are excited by its applications and potential, this journal is for you. All of the content in this journal is gold open access, which means that you can read every article for free, and we are covering all publication costs until mid-2026. Find out more about the journal Read our published articles Submit your manuscript today Sign up for email alerts Follow us on social media

Mechanochemistry is an emerging area of chemistry that still presents many open questions. Although the use of mechanical force—such as grinding—to transform matter has been known since ancient times, its scientific foundations remain surprisingly underdeveloped. Despite a growing number of successful examples, enabling more sustainable syntheses or reactions that are not possible in solution, the field still lacks a clear and unified theoretical framework. This coexistence of practical success and conceptual openness suggests that the future development of mechanochemistry will depend not only on new experimental results, but also on fresh perspectives capable of rationalising, describing, and modelling mechanochemical reactivity.

Driven by my deep involvement in this field and by the increasing potential of mechanochemistry, I initiated a Mechanochemistry course at the University of Bologna with the aim of exposing students to this discipline early in their training. However, the absence of well-established fundamentals makes traditional teaching approaches inadequate. To convey both the state of the art and the wide range of applications, students were asked to critically read and discuss several recent research articles, focusing on experimental choices, underlying assumptions, and limitations, and to formulate questions that were then addressed directly to the authors. In doing so, students are introduced not only to mechanochemistry itself, but also to academic publishing as a living process, where scientific knowledge is constructed, debated, and refined through the literature.

This direct interaction with the authors provides students with a more immediate and informal connection to ongoing research, allowing them to grasp the everyday challenges encountered in the laboratory and the reasoning behind experimental decisions. Such an approach helps students navigate a rapidly evolving field while fostering a view of science as an active and collaborative process—one in which today’s students are tomorrow’s contributors.

After being exposed to mechanochemistry across different application areas, students were invited to select research articles from RSC Mechanochemistry based on their own curiosity and scientific interests. The following blog posts present their choices and perspectives, offering a student-driven view of the field. This series aims to build a bridge between education and academic publishing, highlighting how the next generation of researchers engages with mechanochemistry and why their voices are relevant to its future development.

Discover the selected articles in the RSC Mechanochemistry Students’ Choice collection.

2026 Mechanochemistry course students at the University of Bologna. First row: Prof. Dario Braga and Prof. Lucia Maini.

Lucia Maini is a Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of Bologna. Her research interests focus on polymorphism, crystal engineering, and molecular materials, with mechanochemistry representing a central methodological and conceptual pillar of her work. Beyond its role as a preferred synthetic approach in her research, mechanochemistry also connects her scientific interests with broader perspectives on the discipline. She has explored its historical roots in the history of chemistry, including contributions such as “What makes every work perfect is cooking and grinding”: the ancient roots of mechanochemistry” published in RSC Mechanochemistry (10.1039/D3MR00035D). Alongside her research activity, she is deeply involved in teaching, with a strong interest in innovative educational methodologies. She has developed a Master’s-level course on mechanochemistry based on research-based learning, where students engage directly with contemporary literature and researchers. Her work reflects a commitment to integrating research, education, and historical perspective within modern chemical science.

Submit to RSC Mechanochemistry today! We welcome you to submit your latest research in mechanochemistry to our journal! All content in this journal is gold open access and we are covering all publication costs until mid-2026. Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

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