Epitaxially grown metal-organic frameworks

The functionalization of inorganic and organic surfaces is becoming a key issue in a vast number of technical applications. The present review will focus on a particularly attractive route for surface functionalization via the coating of substrates with ordered, highly-porous, self-assembling layers of metal-organic frameworks. Loading the nm-sized pores of these molecular scaffolds with molecules, clusters, and nanoparticles creates many opportunities for using these flexible, three-dimensional shelf systems as storage material, for developing highly specific sensors, catalysts and electronic devices, as well as implementing optical metamaterials.