All-gas-phase synthesis of UiO-66 through modulated atomic layer deposition.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27876797.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13578 and PMC identifier 5123030.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Thin films of stable metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) such as UiO-66 have enormous application potential, for instance in microelectronics. However, all-gas-phase deposition techniques are currently not available for such MOFs. We here report on thin-film deposition of the thermally and chemically stable UiO-66 in an all-gas-phase process by the aid of atomic layer deposition (ALD). Sequential reactions of ZrCl<sub>4</sub> and 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid produce amorphous organic-inorganic hybrid films that are subsequently crystallized to the UiO-66 structure by treatment in acetic acid vapour. We also introduce a new approach to control the stoichiometry between metal clusters and organic linkers by modulation of the ALD growth with additional acetic acid pulses. An all-gas-phase synthesis technique for UiO-66 could enable implementations in microelectronics that are not compatible with solvothermal synthesis. Since this technique is ALD-based, it could also give enhanced thickness control and the possibility to coat irregular substrates with high aspect ratios.