Issue 7, 2018, Issue in Progress

Surface-tension-confined assembly of a metal–organic framework in femtoliter droplet arrays

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), produced by metal ions coordinated to organic linkers, have attracted increasing attention in recent years. For the utilization in MOFs in numerous applications, achieving positioned MOF growth on surfaces is essential to fabricate multiple-functional devices. We develop a novel miniaturized method to realize surface-tension-confined assembly of HKUST-1 in femtoliter droplet arrays. HKUST-1 crystal arrays grown by evaporation-induced crystallization are observed, and five typical crystal morphologies (i.e., hexagonal, irregular hexagonal, triangular, arc-like and ribbon-like crystals) are found in the large area on the patterned substrate during crystallization. Our research provides a better understanding of the formation mechanism of MOF crystals in confined sessile droplets. The key factors determining HKUST-1 single-crystal growth are the internal flows in an evaporating droplet and consequently aggregation induced by the combination of metallic Cu(II) and BTC ions. Understanding the formation of different morphologies of HKUST-1 crystals is useful to guide the production of crystals with desired shapes for various applications.

Graphical abstract: Surface-tension-confined assembly of a metal–organic framework in femtoliter droplet arrays

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Dec 2017
Accepted
09 Jan 2018
First published
18 Jan 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 3680-3686

Surface-tension-confined assembly of a metal–organic framework in femtoliter droplet arrays

Z. Wu, Y. Lin, J. Xing, M. Zhang and J. Wu, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 3680 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA13250F

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