In situ growth of luminescent MOF thin films of Sr/Eu(II)-imidazolate on functionalized nanostructured alumina

The highly luminescent framework series(3) (infinity)[Sr(1-x)Eu(x)Im(2)], x = 0-1, was successfully grown in situ on nanostructured macroporous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) membranes during the framework formation. Thereby, a novel in situ coating strategy for thin film creation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and dense frameworks directly deriving from the metals was developed. Depending on synthesis conditions and growth duration, the luminescent materials start growing inside the AAO macropores and on the pore mouths, yielding patterned framework surfaces, before a continuous smooth MOF layer is formed. The films retain the luminescence of the corresponding bulk materials and can be grown with variable film thickness on the nanometer scale.