A universal synthesis protocol for tuneable metal-organic framework nanohybrid

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with encapsulated functional nanoparticles (NPs) enjoy a vastly expanded application potential in catalysis, filtration, and sensing. In general, diffusion-controlled infiltration and metal ion-based strategies that force heterogeneous nucleation have yielded piecemeal, partial successes in overcoming the lattice mismatch between the MOF-shells and NP-cores. To this date, however, no universally applicable synthesis for MOF-nanohybrids emerged that covers the full diversity of all possible core-shell combinations. Here, we show a versatile, general synthesis protocol using a representative set of seven MOF-shells (ZIF-zni, ZIF-8, ZIF-67, FJU-30, MIL-88(Fe), HKUST-1, and MOF-74(Co)) and six NP-cores (Ag, Au, NaYF4, β-FeOOH, Fe2O3 and Ni3[Fe(CN)6]2) that are fine-tuned to incorporate from single to hundreds of cores in mono-, bi-, tri- and quaternary composites. Our key strategy is to regulate the rate of diffusion of alkaline vapours that deprotonate the organic building blocks and trigger the controlled MOF-growth and encapsulation of NP-cores. This strategy is expected to pave the way for the exploration of sophisticated MOF-nanohybrids that draws from the full range of hitherto known MOF-architectures and core-compositions.