The utility of electronically conductive metal-organic frameworks (EC-MOFs) in high-performance devices has been limited to date by a lack of high-quality thin film. The controllable thin-film fabrication of an EC-MOF, Cu3 (HHTP)2 , (HHTP=2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene), by a spray layer-by-layer liquid-phase epitaxial method is reported. The Cu3 (HHTP)2 thin film can not only be precisely prepared with thickness increment of about 2 nm per growing cycle, but also shows a smooth surface, good crystallinity, and high orientation. The chemiresistor gas sensor based on this high-quality thin film is one of the best room-temperature sensors for NH3 among all reported sensors based on various materials.
Keywords: electronic conductivity; gas sensors; metal-organic frameworks; porous structures; thin films.
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