Targeted singe-site MOF node modication research published in ACS virtual issue

Collaborative research led by professors Christopher Cramer and Laura Gagliardi has been selected for publication in a special American Chemical Society virtual issue on atomic layer deposition (ALD).

Their paper, “Targeted Single-Site MOF Node Modification: Trivalent Metal Loading via Atomic Layer Deposition," was published in Chemistry of Materials in 2015.

The abstract reads: “Postsynthetic functionalization of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) enables the controlled, high-density incorporation of new atoms on a crystallographically precise framework. Leveraging the broad palette of known atomic layer deposition (ALD) chemistries, ALD in MOFs (AIM) is one such targeted approach to construct diverse, highly functional, few-atom clusters. We here demonstrate the saturating reaction of trimethylindium (InMe₃) with the node hydroxyls and ligated water of NU-1000, which takes place without significant loss of MOF crystallinity or internal surface area. We computationally identify the elementary steps by which trimethylated trivalent metal compounds (ALD precursors) react with this Zr-based MOF node to generate a uniform and well characterized new surface layer on the node itself, and we predict a final structure that is fully consistent with experimental X-ray pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. We further demonstrate tunable metal loading through controlled number density of the reactive handles (−OH and −OH₂) achieved through node dehydration at elevated temperatures.”

In addition to Cramer and Gagliardi, the researchers also included Soo Kim, Ana E. Platero-Prats, Joseph Hupp (Northwestern University) and Karena Chapman from the Argonne National Laboratory, Joshua Broycz and Samat Tussupbayev from the Department of Chemistry, Timothy Wang, and Omar K. Farha (King Abdulaziz University) from Northwestern University.

For this ACS Select Virtual Issue, 31 recent publications are highlighted from Chemistry of Materials, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and ACS Nano. There were chosen to demonstrate the breadth and depth of emerging ALD research. Particular emphasis was placed on the novelty and impact in the research, to provide the reader with a sense of the state-of-the art in ALD research, and perspectives on future directions."