Chemical Vapor Deposition Polymerization of Poly(p-xylylenes) in Metal-Organic Framework Templates

Different polymerization methods have been reported to prepare MOF-templated materials. However, each polymerization method has limitations such as the requirement for specific catalyst or initiator, solvent, high temperature, and long reaction time that limit its applicability. However, introduction of monomers from the vapor phase could enhance the diffusion of monomers and the following polymerization inside the MOF structure.
Here, we used chemical vapor deposition (CVD) polymerization to template poly(p-xylylenes) in MOF crystals. This strategy enabled to establish a general but simple
protocol for the preparation of polymer-MOF composites and MOF-templated polymers.