Oriented nanoscale films of metal-organic frameworks by room-temperature gel-layer synthesis.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) assembled from organic building blocks and metal-based connectors have attracted much interest owing to their large pores and their enormous structural diversity. Particularly, the generation of homogeneous thin films of MOFs is highly desirable in view of potential applications including chemical sensors, catalysts, and also optical devices. Several elegant examples of MOF film growth have recently been reported (see below), but a general and convenient method for the synthesis of homogeneous oriented thin films is not known. Herein we present a novel strategy for the growth of highly oriented thin films of MOFs based on the storage of one reaction partner for framework synthesis in a polymer gel layer, followed by diffusion of the other reaction partner into the gel layer and to a nucleation interface provided by a functionalized selfassembled monolayer (Scheme 1).