Sub-One-Nanometer Nanomaterials Showing Polymer-Analogue Properties

Conventional inorganic materials are usually brittle and hard, which limits their application in some fields. Great efforts have been made to endow the inorganic materials with flexibility; however, there is hardly any effective method. Because of the sub-1-nm size, sub-1-nm nanomaterials show some unique properties compared with nanomaterials with larger sizes, such as the polymer-like property. Thus, sub-1-nm nanomaterials are found to be a good entry point to bridge inorganic materials and polymer materials. Rational assembly and processing of the functional sub-1-nm nanomaterials will bring great opportunities for the construction of micro- or nano-devices and applications of inorganic nanomaterials. In this Viewpoint, we briefly introduce the significance and research of the sub-1-nm nanomaterials and envision the future research direction and challenge.