CO2 controls the oriented growth of metal-organic framework with highly accessible active sites

The production of 2D metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with highly exposed active surfaces is of great importance for catalysis. Here we demonstrate the formation of MOF nanosheets by utilizing CO2 as a capping agent to control the oriented growth of MOF. This strategy has many advantages over the conventional methods. For example, it is template-free and proceeds at mild temperature (35 degrees C), CO2 can be easily removed by depressurization, and the properties of the MOF nanosheets can be well adjusted by changing CO2 pressure. Such a simple, rapid, efficient and adjustable route produces MOF nanosheets with ultrathin thickness (similar to 10nm), small lateral size (similar to 100nm) and abundant unsaturated coordination metal sites on surfaces. Owing to these unique features, the as-synthesized MOF nanosheets exhibit superior activity for catalyzing the oxidation reactions of alcohols. Producing two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with highly exposed active surfaces is important for catalysis. Here, authors prepare MOF nanosheets by using CO2 as a capping agent to control the oriented growth of MOFs.