Liquid-phase epitaxial growth of multiple MOF thin films with high lattice mismatch

Abstract

The development of multiple metal–organic framework (MOF) thin films with high lattice mismatch is still a challenging task. Herein we report a series of single and multiple (bi-varietal and tri-varietal) pillar-layered MOF thin films (surface-coordinated MOF thin films, SURMOFs) [Cu₂L₂dabco]_n (L = bdc, bpc and tpdc) with preferred [001]-orientation on the substrate surfaces using a liquid-phase epitaxial (LPE) layer by layer pump method. The single SURMOFs with the same c-lattice parameters but different a- and b-lattice parameters result in the successful growth of oriented multiple SURMOFs with high lattice mismatch (up to 77.8%). The vapor adsorption results show that the representative bi-varietal SURMOF with large lattice mismatch has different adsorption behavior from single SURMOFs, providing a new strategy to achieve tuning of the adsorption kinetics performance in sensing applications.