Surface Structure Of Metal-organic Framework Grown On Self-assembled Monolayers Revealed By High-resolution Atomic Force Microscopy

摘要

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) which consist of organic ligands linked together by metal ions belong to a relatively new class of porous materials. Owing to their potential applications in storage, separation, and heterogeneous catalysis, MOFs have attracted increasing attention. So far MOF research has been mainly focused on bulk structure of the material prepared in the form of a powder. Only very recently a new, and radically different, approach was undertaken by exploring the possibilities of MOF growth on surfaces in the form of thin films. Two important aspects have been addressed by these studies. First, they demonstrated selective growth of MOFs on polar surfaces using differently functionalized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) in combination with the microcontact printing technique. Second, they proved the possibility of surface-oriented crystalline growth of the MOF structure.