Chemical bonding at the metal-organic framework/metal oxide interface: Simulated epitaxial growth of MOF-5 on rutile TiO2

Thin-film deposition of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is now possible, but little is known regarding the microscopic nature of hybrid hetero-interfaces. We first assess optimal substrate combinations for coherent epitaxy of MOFs based on a lattice matching procedure. We then perform a detailed qua...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bristow, J., Butler, K., Svane, K., Gale, Julian, Walsh, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: R S C Publications 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52439
Description
Summary:Thin-film deposition of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is now possible, but little is known regarding the microscopic nature of hybrid hetero-interfaces. We first assess optimal substrate combinations for coherent epitaxy of MOFs based on a lattice matching procedure. We then perform a detailed quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical investigation of the growth of (011) MOF-5 on (110) rutile TiO2. The lowest energy interface configuration involves a bidentate connection between two TiO6 polyhedra with deprotonation of terephthalic acid to a bridging oxide site. The epitaxy of MOF-5 on the surface of TiO2 was modelled with a forcefield parameterised to quantum chemical binding energies and bond lengths. The microscopic interface structure and chemical bonding characteristics are expected to be relevant to other hybrid framework-oxide combinations.