Electric-Field-Mediated Reversible Transformation between Supramolecular Networks and Covalent Organic Frameworks

By using an oriented electric field in a scanning tunneling microscope, one can locally control the condensation of boronic acids at the liquid/solid interface. The phase transition between self-assembled molecular networks and covalent organic frameworks is controlled by changing the polarity of the applied bias. The electric-field-induced phase transformation is reversible under ambient conditions.