The conventional synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) through soluble metal-salt precursors provides little control over the growth of MOF crystals. The use of alternative metal precursors would provide a more flexible and cost-effective strategy for direction- and shape-controlled MOF synthesis. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the use of insoluble metal-carbon matrices to foster directed growth of MOFs. Aluminum carbide was implemented as both the metal precursor and growth-directing agent for the generation of MIL-53(Al). A unique needle-like morphology of the MOF was grown parallel to the bulk surface in a layer-by-layer manner. Importantly, the synthesis scheme was found to be transferrable to the production of different linker analogues of the MOF and other topologies. Given the variety of metal carbides available, these findings can be used as a blueprint for controlled, efficient, and economical MOF syntheses and set a new milestone toward the industrial use of MOFs at large-scale.

中文翻译：

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来自固体碳化铝前驱体的金属有机骨架 MIL-53(Al) 的结构化生长

通过可溶性金属盐前体合成金属有机骨架 (MOF) 的方法几乎无法控制 MOF 晶体的生长。使用替代金属前体将为方向和形状控制的 MOF 合成提供更灵活和更具成本效益的策略。在这里，我们首次展示了使用不溶性金属-碳基质促进 MOF 的定向生长。碳化铝被用作生成 MIL-53(Al) 的金属前体和生长导向剂。MOF 的独特针状形态以逐层方式平行于体表面生长。重要的是，发现该合成方案可转移到 MOF 和其他拓扑结构的不同接头类似物的生产中。鉴于可用的金属碳化物种类繁多，