Temperature-induced oriented growth of large area, few-layer 2D metal–organic framework nanosheets

The isolation of few-layer two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic framework (MOF) sheets has been achieved at an elevated solvothermal reaction temperature. The 2D porphyrin paddlewheel framework-1 (PPF-1) MOF nanosheets (NS) are ultrathin (2.5 nm) and have large lateral dimensions (over 2 μm). The yield of PPF-1 NS was also increased to 71.7% with increasing the reaction temperature. The results revealed that the formation of PPF-1 NS was attributed to the enlarged interlayer space and accelerated crystal growth rate along the lateral direction.