The production of 2D metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with highly exposed active surfaces is of great importance for catalysis. Here we demonstrate the formation of MOF nanosheets by utilizing CO₂ as a capping agent to control the oriented growth of MOF. This strategy has many advantages over the conventional methods. For example, it is template-free and proceeds at mild temperature (35 °C), CO₂ can be easily removed by depressurization, and the properties of the MOF nanosheets can be well adjusted by changing CO₂ pressure. Such a simple, rapid, efficient and adjustable route produces MOF nanosheets with ultrathin thickness (∼10 nm), small lateral size (∼100 nm) and abundant unsaturated coordination metal sites on surfaces. Owing to these unique features, the as-synthesized MOF nanosheets exhibit superior activity for catalyzing the oxidation reactions of alcohols.

具有高度暴露的活性表面的二维金属有机骨架（MOF）的生产对于催化非常重要。在这里，我们演示了利用CO ₂作为封盖剂来控制MOF定向生长的MOF纳米片的形成。与常规方法相比，此策略具有许多优点。例如，它不含模板，可在温和的温度（35°C）下进行，可通过减压轻松除去CO _2，并可通过更改CO ₂压力很好地调节MOF纳米片的性能。这种简单，快速，有效且可调整的方法可生产出具有超薄厚度（〜10 nm），横向尺寸小（〜100 nm）和表面上的大量不饱和配位金属位点。由于这些独特的功能，合成后的MOF纳米片具有出色的催化醇氧化反应的活性。