Victor Rubio’s JACS paper reports on the use of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) to enable the fabrication of highly oriented, ultrathin MOF films across millimetre-scale areas. Electrical conductivity was studied with Hg-drop electrometry. This strategy might be useful for the integration of MOFs as active interfaces in electronic devices.

In collaboration with E. Pardo’s group at ICMol, this work highlights the potential of flexible MOFs incorporating amino acids to enable efficient removal of mercury from solution. This porous solid displays an adaptable response reminiscent of that responsible for the biological activity of the enzyme mercuric reductase.