Ameloot Group welcomes Benzheng Xia! His PhD will focus on the synthesis of MOFs via solvothermal and MOF-CVD methods to explore different electrical properties. Before arriving in Leuven, he was a research assistant at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, working on organic photoelectric functional materials and devices.

Mikhail Krishtab is a new member joining our group as a postdoc researcher. During his Master and PhD research, Mikhail was exploring various classes of porous materials for their application as low-k dielectrics in on-chip interconnects. His research involved evaluation of mechanical, electrical, chemical, optical and structural properties of thin porous films as well as of their compatibility with integration processes, mainly plasma etching. Supervised by Prof. Mikhail Baklanov and Prof. Stefan De Gendt, Mikhail Krishtab developed a new approach for damage-free integration of self-assembly based mesoporous organosilica coatings. His activities and interests span over wide range of microfabrication processes and thin film characterization techniques among which ellipsometric porosimetry takes the central place. As the class of metal-organic frameworks became an appealing candidate for replacement of silica-based low-k dielectrics, Mikhail's research touched on evaluation of dielectric properties of various MOF films prepared by liquid phase epitaxy (in collaboration with the group of Prof. Woell) and by solvent-free metal/metal oxide conversion (in collaboration with the group of Prof. Ameloot). In our group, Mikhail will investigate the impact of surface pattern and its functionality on nucleation and crystallization of CVD MOFs targeting applications in nanoelectronics devices.

Sabina is joining our group after three years post-doctoral research at the Supramolecular Nanochemistry and Materials group of Prof. Daniel Maspoch in the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Barcelona, Spain). She was working on the synthesis and characterization of new Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Coordination Polymers (CPs) based on peptides, poly-pyridyl, poly-carboxylic and nucleobases as organic ligands. She was focused on the study of their properties, such as hydrophobicity, gas sorption or the possibility to tune these properties by post-synthetic modification. Previously, Sabina completed her PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Vigo (Spain) in the Metallosupramolecular Chemistry group –under the supervision of Prof. Ezequiel Vazquez-Lopez, where she was working on the synthesis and characterization of CPs based on hydrazone ligands. She was focused on their single-crystal structure determination and the identification of their expansion patterns, involving supramolecular interactions. She also did a short stay at the Porous Solid Group (Lavoisier Institute of Versailles, France) under the supervision of Prof. Franck Millange. In our group, Sabina will focus on the development of MOF-on-MOF hybrids for membrane separation and on the crystallographic study of their hetero-epitaxial structural relationship. Welcome Sabina!

Dmitry Kravchenko has joined the Ameloot group. His doctoral work will focus on the fabrication of thin films and membranes by means of MOF-CVD process for microelectronics and gas separation. Dmitry graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Moscow State University. There he worked on fabrication of zeolite membranes and catalysis on MOFs. During his studies he also did internships in the groups of Prof. De Jong (Universiteit Utrecht) and Prof. Gascon (TU Delft). Welcome aboard, Dmitry!

Rob was listed by De Tijd in their special issue on 'tech pioneers'.

Encoded fluorescent particles are fabricated through the selective uptake of dyes in photopatterned metal-organic framework single crystals. The concept is based on spatially controlled photochemical cleavage of pore-blocking pendant groups. Because of the crystalline and porous nature of the host, this approach enables guest uptake that is tunable and can be triggered though controlled irradiation.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are typically highlighted for their potential application in gas storage, separations and catalysis. In contrast, the unique prospects these porous and crystalline materials offer for application in electronic devices, although actively developed, are often underexposed. This review highlights the research aimed at the implementation of MOFs as an integral part of solid-state microelectronics.

Alexander John Cruz will soon be joining the Ameloot group. His doctoral work will focus on the further fundamental elucidation of the MOF-CVD process and subsequent upscale reactor engineering. Alex completed a degree in chemical engineering at the University of the Philippines. He was awarded with the President’s Graduate Fellowship by the National University of Singapore (NUS) where he pursued advanced studies in chemical and biomolecular engineering and management of technology. Alex worked on heterojunction photovoltaics and metallization formulation chemistry at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore in NUS. Prior to pursuing a scientific research track, Alex was a Refinery Energy and Benchmarking Advisor for Royal Dutch Shell. Welcome aboard, Alex!

In this report, Bart looked at the water-induced transformation of the [Zn2(dobdc)] (dobdc = 2,5-dioxidobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylate) metal-organic framework UTSA-74 to its polymorph MOF-74(Zn), contrary to a previous report on the stability of UTSA-74 under such conditions. This dissolution-recrystallization process was investigated in close collaboration with the Stock group (CAU Kiel, DE) using time-resolved in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction data collected at PETRA III (DESY, Hamburg), which were kinetically analyzed using the Gualtieri crystallization model.

Cesar is originally from Mexico, and recently completed his postdoctoral appointment at the Folch lab (University of Washington, Bioengineering Department) under the supervision of Prof. Albert Folch. He explored the use of 3D-Printing (in particular, stereolithography) to fabricate microfluidic devices. Cesar’s experiments have aimed at advancing the resolution of the 3D-Printing process, as well as the biocompatibility and transparency of the resins employed in the printing. Previously, Cesar completed his PhD in Biomedicine and Microfluidics at the University of Barcelona, under the supervision of Dr. Antoni Homs (now in ICN2). He did his research at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in the Nanobioengineering group where he developed microfluidic devices with integrated biosensors for the detection of specific biomarkers. He also did a short stage in the group of Micro and Nanosystems of Prof. Wouter van der Wijngaart at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) at Sweden. In our group, Cesar will focus on 3D printing of microfluidic devices. Welcome Cesar!