Enhancing chemical stability in porous materials: from metal-organic frameworks to robust oriented polymers
|Due to their unique structural properties, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising materials for device fabrication in sensing, electronics, and photonics. However, the fabrication of organized macroscopic MOF 3D-oriented superstructures, such as films, is still challenging, due to the polycrystalline nature of MOFs and their relatively poor chemical and structural stability under environmental conditions (such as humidity).
To address this, Dr. Lea Brandner, Prof. Paolo Falcaro, colleagues at the Technical University of Graz (TU Graz), and international collaborators, used N3-functionalized 3D-oriented MOF films as precursors to develop porous polymeric patterns with enhanced hydrolytic stability. During the micropatterning protocol, fundamental for the realization of microdevices, scientists used deep X-ray lithography available at the Austrian CERIC Partner Facility of the Technical University Graz (at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste). Moreover, to evaluate potential structural changes associated with exposure to environmental conditions (such as structural changes in acidity or humid conditions), researchers performed small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses, using the beamline available at the same Partner facility.
Interestingly, the developed polymer showed a high chemical stability, as well as anisotropic fluorescent response. The use of 3D-oriented MOF systems as precursors could then be considered an efficient strategy to prepare oriented porous polymers, which will advance optical components and microdevices for photonic applications.
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