Our work on the vapor-deposited zeolitic imidazolate frameworks as gap-filling ultra-low-k dielectrics has now been published in Nature Communications. Here we report a strategy for the integration of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as gap-filling low-k dielectrics in advanced on-chip interconnects. The proposed strategy is validated for thin films of the zeolitic imidazolate frameworks ZIF-8 and ZIF-67, formed in 2-methylimidazole vapor from ALD ZnO and native CoOx, respectively. Both materials show a Young’s modulus and dielectric constant comparable to state-of-the-art porous organosilica dielectrics.

Together with the groups of Paolo Falcaro and Roland Resel (TU Graz, Austria), we expanded the scope of materials which can be deposited as thin films by MOF-CVD to Cu-MOFs. The orientation of the films was investigated by synchrotron measurements at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Our study was accepted for publication in ChemComm. Following a typical MOF-CVD protocol thin Cu and CuO precursor layers were deposited from the vapor phase and subsequently reacted with vaporized 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (H2BDC) or trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (H2CDC). The resulting CuBDC and CuCDC films have an out-of-plane orientation with pore channels perpendicular to the surface, hence readily accessible for guest molecules as proven by QCM measurements.

While some are headed to the beach or a quiet villa for their summer holidays, some members of the Ameloot Group chose to do it the other way around. Nathalie traveled to Lake Como in Italy to join the 1st International School on Advanced Porous Materials (MOFSchool) and learned about shaping metal- and covalent-organic frameworks into next-generation materials. The MOFSchool, jointly organized by the Universities of Insubria, Milano La Statale, and Granada, has made a great effort to encourage the participation of young, enthusiastic scientists from all over the world, and invited big names in the field as lecturers. Rob was also there to present our group's work on MOFs entitled: "From the lab to the fab: bringing MOFs into microelectronics" *spot the tallest guy in the photo below :)* Meanwhile, Alex went to Albuquerque in New Mexico to join the 2019 edition of the US Particle Accelerator School. This fully-funded workshop is an academically rigorous graduate-level program that provides training and workforce development in the S&T of particle accelerators and associated systems. International participation from various backgrounds (materials science, medicine, physics, and engineering) gathered for this week-long workshop. Both Nathalie and Alex were competitively selected from hundreds of application on the basis of their potential in their respective fields. More info on MOFSchool (https://mofs.lakecomoschool.org/) and USPAS (http://uspas.fnal.gov/)

Alex once again showcased the power of MOFs before an interdisciplinary audience at Infineon Technologies in Austria. With this year's theme "Chip of the Future", Alex together with 7 other PhD students from Europe presented their research topic in a form of a short pitch to their peers, professors, and industry experts. The jury was convinced that the "dog's nose in your smartphones - next-generation gas sensors" was the best pitch among the finalists. Infineon Technologies organized the PhD pitch as a part of the Winter School 2019 which took place in their manufacturing site in Villach from February 28 to March 1.

UiO-66 is known as one of the most robust metal-organic framework materials. Nevertheless, UiO-66 has also been shown to undergo post-synthetic exchange of structural linkers with surprising ease in some solvents. To date, the exchange mechanism has not yet been fully elucidated. Here, we show how time-resolved monitoring grants insight into the selected case of exchanging 2-minoterephthalate into UiO-66 in methanol. Analysis of both the solid and liquid phase, complemented by computational insights, revealed the active role of methanol in the creation and stabilization of dangling linkers. Similar to monocarboxylate defects that can be introduced during UiO-66 synthesis, such dangling linkers undergo fast exchange. The presence of missing linker or missing cluster defects at the start of the exchange process was shown to have no considerable impact on the equilibrium composition. After the exchange process, the incoming 2-aminoterephthalate and remaining terephthalate linkers were distributed homogeneously in the framework for the typical sub-micron size of UiO-66 crystallites. We are grateful to the concerted efforts from the excellent researchers of Ghent University and National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia!

Our review paper on Bringing Porous Organic and Carbon‐Based Materials toward Thin‐Film Applications was accepted in Advance Functional Materials. Porous materials have attracted tremendous scientific and industrial interest due to their broad commercial applicability. However, some applications require that these materials are deposited on surfaces to create thin films. In this review, the recent progress of new porous thin‐film material classes is described: porous organic molecular materials, porous organic polymers, covalent organic frameworks, and nanoporous carbon. In each case, the state of the art and current barriers in their thin‐film fabrication, as well as intrinsic material advantages that are suited for different applications are presented. By highlighting the unique structural characteristics and properties of these materials, it is hoped that increased research development and industrial interest will be fostered, which will lead to new methods of thin‐film synthesis and consequently to new applications. This work was a successful collaboration with several european research groups.

Bart obtained his Ph.D. at KU Leuven in 2001, under the supervision of Prof. Robert Schoonheydt, with his work entitled "Composite Ultrathin Films" focused on optical applications. He has gained R&D and general management experience in the areas of surface treatments and printed materials. As innovation manager, Bart’s mission is to create value for industrial partners based on the group's research output. He will also lead the intellectual property management domain of the team.

Reversible Optical Writing and Data Storage in an Anthracene‐Loaded Metal‐Organic Framework The confinement of anthracene molecules in a metal-organic framework enables reversible yellow to-purple photoswitching of the fluorescence emission. The photoresponse of the host-guest system strongly relies on the unique properties of the MOF host, i.e., the pore geometry, connectivity and volume as well as the structural flexibility. The solid-state photoswitching allows the development of photopatternable, erasable and rewritable paper. Thanks to our international collaborators from KU Leuven, Kiel and Munich!

Our collaborative effort with the group of Dirk De Vos and James Mayer focused on proton-coupled electron transfer in MOFs: Stoichiometric proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions of the metal–organic framework (MOF) MIL-125, Ti8O8(OH)4(bdc)6 (bdc = terephthalate), are described. In the presence of UV light and 2-propanol, MIL-125 was photoreduced to a maximum of 2(e–/H+) per Ti8 node. This stoichiometry was shown by subsequent titration of the photoreduced material with the 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenoxyl radical. This reaction occurred by PCET to give the corresponding phenol and the original, oxidized MOF. The high level of charging, and the independence of charging amount with particle size of the MOF samples, shows that the MOF was photocharged throughout the bulk and not only at the surface. NMR studies showed that the product phenol is too large to fit in the pores, so the phenoxyl reaction must have occurred at the surface. Attempts to oxidize photoreduced MIL-125 with pure electron acceptors resulted in multiple products, underscoring the importance of removing e– and H+ together. Our results require that the e– and H+ stored within the MOF architecture must both be mobile to transfer to the surface for reaction. Analogous studies on the soluble cluster Ti8O8(OOCtBu)16 support the notion that reduction occurs at the Ti8 MOF nodes and furthermore that this reduction occurs via e–/H+ (H-atom) equivalents. The soluble cluster also suggests degradation pathways for the MOFs under extended irradiation. The methods described are a facile characterization technique to study redox-active materials and should be broadly applicable to, for example, porous materials like MOFs.

With his pitch entitled "A dog's nose in your smartphones - next-generation gas sensors", Alex took home the crown in the recently concluded PhD cup in Brussels. After 2 rounds of selections, Alex won the jury's choice, besting 7 other finalists from the natural sciences and engineering, medicine and the social sciences and law domains. The PhD cup, organized by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, challenges young scientists to translate their research into a three-minute spiel, appealing and intelligible to a wide audience of different backgrounds.