MOF-based electronic and opto-electronic devices

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of hybrid materials with unique optical and electronic properties arising from rational self-assembly of the organic linkers and metal ions/clusters, yielding myriads of possible structural motifs. The combination of order and chemical tunability, coupled with good environmental stability of MOFs, are prompting many research groups to explore the possibility of incorporating these materials as active components in devices such as solar cells, photodetectors, radiation detectors, and chemical sensors. Although this field is only in its incipiency, many new fundamental insights relevant to integrating MOFs with such devices have already been gained. In this review, we focus our attention on the basic requirements and structural elements needed to fabricate MOF-based devices and summarize the current state of MOF research in the area of electronic, opto-electronic and sensor devices. We summarize various approaches to designing active MOFs, creation of hybrid material systems combining MOFs with other materials, and assembly and integration of MOFs with device hardware. Critical directions of future research are identified, with emphasis on achieving the desired MOF functionality in a device and establishing the structure-property relationships to identify and rationalize the factors that impact device performance.