Fabrication of Densely Packed HKUST-1 Metal Organic Framework Thin Layers on a Cu Substrate through a Controlled Dissolution of Cu

An alternative approach to fabricate thin layers of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) on metal substrates without any needs of specific apparatuses was developed. Cu substrates were immersed into acid solution containing 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (H3BTC) organic linker for the MOFs synthesis, where in-situ dissolved Cu2+ ions were assembled to form [Cu3(BTC)2] (HKUST-1; BTC: 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) crystals on the Cu substrates. The optimization of the choice of acids, solvents and preparation conditions were carried out to fabricate densely packed MOFs thin layers on Cu substrates. Use of a low-polarity solvent, benzyl alcohol (e = 13), afforded a best balance between a dissolution rate of Cu and a coordination rate of the ligands, which led to the formation of a homogeneous thin layer composed of densely deposited small HKUST-1 crystals with a thickness of up to ca. 5 µm on the Cu substrates. The thus synthesized MOFs thin layers exhibited a gas-adsorption property for H2 and CO2 with an excell...