Electrically Conductive, Monolithic Metal-Organic Framework-Graphene (MOF@G) Composite Coatings

We present a novel approach to produce a composite of the HKUST-1 metal-organic framework (MOF) and graphene, which is suited for the fabrication of monolithic coatings of solid substrates. In order to avoid the degradation of graphene electrical properties resulting from chemical functionalization (e.g., oxidation yielding graphene oxide, GO), commercial, nonmodified graphene was utilized. The one-pot synthesis of the moldable composite material allows for a controllable loading of graphene and the tuning of porosity. Potentially, this facile synthesis can be transferred to other MOF systems. The monolithic coatings reported here exhibit high surface areas (1156-1078 m²/g). The electrical conductivity was high (a range of 7.6 × 10^-6 S m^-1to 6.4 × 10^-1 S m^-1) and was found to be proportional to the graphene content. The ability to readily attain different forms and shapes of the conductive, microporous composites indicates that the MOF@G system can provide a compelling approach to access various applications of MOFs, specifically in electrochemical catalysis, supercapacitors, and sensors.