The tunable oriented growth of thin films of the porous framework HKUST-1 (Cu3(C9H3O6)2(H2O)3·xH2O) on different functionalized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) is demonstrated. Films grown on carboxylate-terminated self-assembled monolayers are highly oriented along the [100] direction, while alcohol-terminated surfaces induce a completely different orientation along the [111] direction. Homogeneous but less oriented thin films are also obtained on methyl-terminated SAMs. A combination of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy was used to document the film growth on the self-assembled monolayers and to follow the morphological evolution of the crystalline phases.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Colloidal zeolites NaA (LTA structure type) and ZSM-5 (MFI-type) with crystal diameters of about 100 nm were synthesized as building blocks for the formation of microporous self-limiting monolayers on the piezo-active area (gold electrodes) of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Two different coupling strategies were explored, concerning the modification of either the gold substrate or the external zeolite crystal surface with a bifunctional molecular interface. Diverse analytical methods were employed to fully characterize the materials (dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, solid state 29Si NMR spectroscopy, N2 sorption) and to study the process of coupling the zeolite crystals to the gold surface (reflection-absorption IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy). The molecularly selective sensing behavior of these zeolite-coated devices is demonstrated by measuring the full adsorption isotherms of n-butane and i-butane in the microporous films.