MOF thin films: existing and future applications

The applications and potentials of thin film coatings of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) supported on various substrates are discussed in this critical review. Because the demand for fabricating such porous coatings is rather obvious, in the past years several synthesis schemes have been developed for the preparation of thin porous MOF films. Interestingly, although this is an emerging field seeing a rapid development a number of different applications on MOF films were either already demonstrated or have been proposed. This review focuses on the fabrication of continuous, thin porous films, either supported on solid substrates or as free-standing membranes. The availability of such two-dimensional types of…