Interfacial growth of large-area single-layer metal-organic framework nanosheets

Sci Rep. 2013:3:2506. doi: 10.1038/srep02506.

Abstract

The air/liquid interface is an excellent platform to assemble two-dimensional (2D) sheets of materials by enhancing spontaneous organizational features of the building components and encouraging large length scale in-plane growth. We have grown 2D molecularly-thin crystalline metal-organic-framework (MOF) nanosheets composed of porphyrin building units and metal-ion joints (NAFS-13) under operationally simple ambient conditions at the air/liquid interface. In-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies of the formation process performed directly at the interface were employed to optimize the NAFS-13 growth protocol leading to the development of a post-injection method -post-injection of the metal connectors into the water subphase on whose surface the molecular building blocks are pre-oriented- which allowed us to achieve the formation of large-surface area morphologically-uniform preferentially-oriented single-layer nanosheets. The growth of such large-size high-quality sheets is of interest for the understanding of the fundamental physical/chemical properties associated with ultra-thin sheet-shaped materials and the realization of their use in applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Crystallization / methods*
  • Materials Testing
  • Membranes, Artificial*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / ultrastructure*
  • Organic Chemicals / chemistry*
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Organic Chemicals