Facile fabrication of Cu(II)-porphyrin MOF thin films from tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin and Cu(OH)2 nanoneedle array

Abstract Herein, we report a facile synthetic protocol to grow thin films of Cu(II) tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (CuTCPP) metal-organic frameworks (MOF) from a tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (H 2 TCPP) solution and the copper hydroxide (Cu(OH) 2 ) nanoneedle array formed on a Cu substrate at room temperature. The formations of Cu-centered TCPP ligands and crystalline platelet-like Cu MOFs were successfully probed by SEM, XRD, FTIR, UV–vis and XPS. The formation process from Cu(OH) 2 was monitored by using SEM images obtained at different reaction times during the first 24 h, thus suggesting the reaction pathway of Cu(OH) 2 dissolution followed by the reprecipitation of CuTCPP MOFs at a near surface. In addition, the CuTCPP MOFs exhibited a high specific surface area of 408 m 2 /g.