Soft nanobrush-directed multifunctional MOF nanoarrays

Controlled growth of well-oriented metal-organic framework nanoarrays on requisite surfaces is of prominent significance for a broad range of applications such as catalysis, sensing, optics and electronics. Herein, we develop a highly flexible soft nanobrush-directed synthesis approach for precise in situ fabrication of MOF nanoarrays on diverse substrates. The soft nanobrushes are constructed via surface-initiated living crystallization-driven self-assembly and their active poly(2-vinylpyridine) corona captures abundant metal cations through coordination interactions. This allows the rapid heterogeneous growth of MOF nanoparticles and the subsequent formation of MIL-100 (Fe), HKUST-1 and CUT-8 (Cu) nanoarrays with tailored heights of 220~1100 nm on silicon wafer, Ni foam and ceramic tube. Auxiliary functional components including metal oxygen clusters and precious metal nanoparticles can be readily incorporated to finely fabricate hybrid structures with synergistic features. Remarkably, the MIL-100 (Fe) nanoarrays doped with Keggin H3PMo10V2O40 dramatically boost formaldehyde selectivity up to 92.8% in catalytic oxidation of methanol. Moreover, the HKUST-1 nanoarrays decorated with Pt nanoparticles show exceptional sensitivity to H2S with a ppb-level detection limit.