Epitaxial Growth of γ-Cyclodextrin-Containing Metal–Organic Frameworks Based on a Host–Guest Strategy

A class of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)—namely CD-MOFs—obtained from natural products has been grown in an epitaxial fashion as films on the surfaces of glass substrates, which are modified with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) molecules. The SAMs are created by host–guest complexation of γ-CD molecules with surface-functionalized pyrene units. The CD-MOF films have continuous polycrystalline morphology with a structurally out-of-plane (c-axial) orientation, covering an area of several square millimeters, with a thickness of ∼2 μm. Furthermore, this versatile host–guest strategy has been applied successfully in the growth of CD-MOFs as the shell on the curved surface of microparticles as well as in the integration of CD-MOF films into electrochemical devices for sensing carbon dioxide. In striking contrast to the control devices prepared from CD-MOF crystalline powders, these CD-MOF film-based devices display an enhancement in proton conductance of up to 300-fold. In addition, the CD-MOF film-based device exhibits more rapid and highly reversible CO2-sensing cycles under ambient conditions, with a 50-fold decrease in conductivity upon exposure to CO2 for 3 s which is recovered within 10 s upon re-exposure to air.