Evaporation-Directed Crack-Patterning of Metal-Organic Framework Colloidal Films and Their Application as Photonic Sensors.

Dalstein, Olivier; Gkaniatsou, Effrosyni; Sicard, Clemence; Sel, Ozlem; Perrot, Hubert; Serre, Christian; Boissière, Cédric; Faustini, Marco

A straightforward crack-patterning method is reported allowing the direct formation of periodic cracks in metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticle films during dip-coating deposition. The crack propagation and periodicity can be easily tailored by controlling the evaporation front and the withdrawal speed. Several MOF-patterned films can be fabricated on large surfaces and on several substrates (flat, curved or flexible) including the inner surface of a tube, not achievable by other lithographic techniques. We demonstrate that the periodic cracked arrays diffract light and, due to the MOF sorption properties, photonic vapor sensors are fabricated. A new concept of 'in-tube', MOF-based diffraction grating sensors is proposed with outstanding sensitivity that can be easily tuned 'on-demand' as function of the desired detection range.

METAL-organic frameworks; EVAPORATION (Chemistry); METAL nanoparticles; FRACTURE mechanics; SORPTION; DIFFRACTION gratings

Angewandte Chemie, 2017, Vol 129, Issue 45, p14199

0044-8249

Academic Journal

10.1002/ange.201706745