Conductive Metal-Organic Framework films: synthesis and in situ environmental Scanning Probe Microscopy for enhanced chemical sensing

Objective

Electrically conductive Metal-organic frameworks (cMOFs) are a recently developed class of materials that display electrical conductivity and a well-defined porous structure, formed by the coordination of metal nodes and organic ligands. These unique properties make them attractive for applications in electrocatalysis, energy storage and sensing. This emerging field still faces important challenges, such as the lack of general fabrication methods that provide high-quality cMOF lms (scalable, control over thickness, roughness, crystallinity), and the difficulty in accurately characterizing charge transport and sensing mechanisms, with unknown interplay of various structural and morphological factors (crystallinity, orientation, grain boundaries and defect sites). To tackle this, the main objective of this project is to design and synthesize cMOF films, and integrate them into field effect transistors (cMOF-FET), an emerging platform for chemical sensing. The project aims at i) developing fabrication methods that enable high quality cMOF films, and ii) improving the understanding of the local electrical properties of the cMOF films using advanced environmental Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) techniques, determining their influence in cMOF-FET performance. The use of SPM in operando cMOF-FET devices will enable the correlation of microscopic structural and electrical features with macroscopic transport properties, offering real-time insights into charge dynamics and the influence of various vapors. The results will allow to engineer a proof-of-concept cMOF-FET sensor for air pollutants. This action is expected to have significant scientific impact by disclosing unknown mechanisms and providing routes for optimization of cMOFs, as well as societal and economic impact due to the development of advanced air quality monitoring devices. This action will positively impact my career, increasing my competitiveness and recognition, towards an independent researcher path.