Emerging metal-organic frameworks-based materials for photocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)-based materials have emerged as highly promising candidates for photocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), owing to their well-defined porous architectures, unparalleled structural tunability, and abundant accessible active sites. Establishing a clear structure-performance relationship for MOF-based systems is pivotal to advancing scalable and sustainable nitrogen fixation technologies. This review provides a systematic overview of recent progress in this rapidly evolving field and outlines a roadmap to guide future research endeavors. First, it elaborates on the synthetic methodologies and functionalization strategies of MOFs, followed by a critical discussion of the structural design principles for MOFs and their composite or derived materials. Next, it presents a comprehensive evaluation of MOF-based materials for the photocatalytic NRR. Finally, after an in-depth analysis of current challenges and bottlenecks, this review outlines prospective research directions, offering valuable theoretical and practical guidance for the rational design of next-generation catalysts toward green NH3 synthesis.