Benzenedisulfonic Acid as an ALD/MLD Building Block for Crystalline Metal-Organic Thin Films

Two new atomic/molecular layer deposition processes for depositing crystalline metal-organic thin films, built from 1,4-benzenedisulfonate (BDS) as the organic linker and Cu or Li as the metal node, are reported. The processes yield in-situ crystalline but hydrated Cu-BDS and Li-BDS films; in the former case, the crystal structure is of a previously known metal-organic-framework-like structure, while in the latter case not known from previous studies. Both hydrated materials can be readily dried to obtain the crystalline unhydrated phases. The stability and the ionic conductivity of the unhydrated Li-BDS films were characterized to assess their applicability as a thin film solid polymer Li-ion conductor.