Evaporation-Directed Crack-Patterning of Metal-Organic Framework Colloidal Films and Their Application as Photonic Sensors

A straightforward crack-patterning method is reported allowing the direct formation of periodic cracks in metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticle films during dip-coating deposition. The crack propagation and periodicity can be easily tailored by controlling the evaporation front and the withdrawal speed. Several MOF-patterned films can be fabricated on large surfaces and on several substrates (flat, curved or flexible) including the inner surface of a tube, not achievable by other lithographic techniques. We demonstrate that the periodic cracked arrays diffract light and, due to the MOF sorption properties, photonic vapor sensors are fabricated. A new concept of in-tube, MOF-based diffraction grating sensors is proposed with outstanding sensitivity that can be easily tuned on-demand as function of the desired detection range.