Direct growth of Cu3(BTC)2(H2O)3•xH2O thin films on modified QCM-gold electrodes -: Water sorption isotherms

The preparation of a thin film of the metal-organic framework Cu-3(BTC)(2)(H2O)(3)center dot xH(2)O (HKUST-1) on the gold electrode of a quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) was achieved by direct growth on a 11-mercaptoundecanol self-assembled monolayer (SAM). The formation of the SAM on the gold substrate was proven via reflection-absorption infrared-spectroscopy. The HKUST-1 thin film was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman-spectroscopy, and scanning-electron microscopy. Water vapor sorption measurements allow us to directly characterize the sorption properties of the thin film grown on the electrode of the QCM-device. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.