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Controlling interpenetration in metal–organic frameworks by liquid-phase epitaxy

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly porous materials generally consisting of two building elements: inorganic coupling units and organic linkers1,2,3,4. These frameworks offer an enormous porosity, which can be used to store large amounts of gases and, as demonstrated in more recent applications5,6, makes these compounds suitable for drug release. The huge sizes of the pores inside MOFs, however, also give rise to a fundamental complication, namely the formation of sublattices occupying the same space. This interpenetration greatly reduces the pore size and thus the available space within the MOF structure7. We demonstrate here that the formation of the second, interpenetrated framework can be suppressed by using liquid-phase epitaxy on an organic template. This success demonstrates the potential of the step-by-step method to synthesize new classes of MOFs not accessible by conventional solvothermal methods.

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Figure 1: Representation of MOF synthesis concepts.
Figure 2: SPR signal as a function of time recorded in situ during sequential injections.
Figure 3: Out-of-plane XRD pattern.
Figure 4: Out-of-plane XRD pattern.
Figure 5: Proposed model structure.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial support by the EU through the FP6 STREP initiative ‘SURMOF’.

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Contributions

O.S. and H.W. prepared the SURMOFs investigated in this study. A.T. and B.S. synthesized the organothiols used to fabricate the SAMs. M.P. and C.O. carried out the AFM work. Data analysis was carried out by O.S., D.Z., R.F. and C.W. The work was directed by O.S., R.F. and C.W. All authors contributed equally in writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Christof Wöll.

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Shekhah, O., Wang, H., Paradinas, M. et al. Controlling interpenetration in metal–organic frameworks by liquid-phase epitaxy. Nature Mater 8, 481–484 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2445

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