Programmed functionalization of SURMOFs via liquid phase heteroepitaxial growth and post-synthetic modification

Heterostructured surface mounted metal-organic frameworks (SURMOFs) [Cu2(NH2-bdc)2(dabco)] (B) on top of [Cu2(bdc)2(dabco)] (A) were deposited on pyridyl-terminated Au covered QCM substrate using a step-by-step liquid phase epitaxial growth method. Sequentially, the pore size of the top layer [Cu2(NH2-bdc)2(dabco)] (B) was modified by targeting the installed amino moiety with tert-butyl isothiocyanate (tBITC). The adsorption properties of the programmed functionalized SURMOFs studied using an environment controlled quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) instrument exhibited the possibility to achieve high selectivity and capacity by heteroepitaxial growth and post-synthetic modification.