Fabrication of ultrathin films containing the metal organic framework Fe-MIL-88B-NH2 by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique

Abstract In this work, the fabrication of ultrathin films containing the metal organic framework (MOF) Fe-MIL-88B-NH 2 by the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique has been explored. MOF crystals of two different sizes (1.5 ± 0.3 and 0.07 ± 0.01 μm) have been synthesized and assembled at the air–liquid interface by the LB method. The effect of the subphase pH and particle size on the film formation process has been studied. Moreover, for the first time, mixed MOF + polymer (the commercial soluble polyimide Matrimid ® ) LB films containing different MOF loadings have been fabricated. These experiments show that it is possible to obtain ultrathin MOF + polymer films with a controlled MOF density. Furthermore, MOF particles are homogeneously distributed in the polymer matrix, even with very large amounts of MOF (up to 95 wt%). LB films have been incorporated into materials of different nature, including glass and mica substrates and also polymeric membranes based on polysulfone Udel ® and PIM-1 (polymer of intrinsic microporosity), and the modification of water contact angle after LB film deposition has been analyzed.