Themed collection FOCUS: Design and applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)

This review highlights recent research progress in MOF materials for the important separation of gaseous hydrocarbons, especially for ethylene, propylene, and butadiene. The uniqueness of MOFs to achieve those progress is also outlined.

We detail the production process of H₂O₂ involving mechanisms, detection methods, and performance evaluation, and also summarize and predict the modifying ways of MOF catalysts for the photocatalytic ORR to H₂O₂, incorporating the challenges faced.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are solid crystalline materials formed by the self-assembly of organic ligands and metal ions or clusters. Combining the advantages of membrane separation and MOFs, MOFs-based membranes are used in water treatment.

Schematic diagram of MOF-based SERS sensing platforms for life and health detection.

MOF/COF composites constructed by heterojunction, functionalization, or integration show enhanced performance in photo-, thermo-, and electrocatalysis. This review is informative for rational design and mechanism understanding of MOF/COF catalysts.

In this review, recent advancement of MOF based materials and their role towards OER is explored. Tuning of structures by adopting various synthetic strategical techniques are discussed for the first time.

This review provides current research progress on rare earth MOFs, including synthesis methods and photocatalytic and electrocatalytic applications of rare earth MOFs.

This review summarizes the recent advances in upgrading FFR to high value-added chemicals using MOF-based heterogeneous catalysts.

The various potential sensing application by luminescent MOFs.

Constructing strategies of hierarchically porous MOFs with different pore size ranges and their applications in adsorption and catalysis.

This review presents a comprehensive discussion on the development and application of pristine Fe-MOFs in lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, potassium-ion batteries, metal–air batteries and lithium–sulfur batteries.

H₂O₂ molecules induce the chiral distribution of subsequent guests via chiral channels of MOFs by forming a host–guest recognition system that slows down the oxidation of the host framework.

Spin crossover behaviors were first modulated by successive redox reactions within an inverse-Hofmann-type metal–organic framework.

A unique single lithium-ion conductor (SLIC) contains lithium-ion chains was synthesised, which exhibits high lithium ionic conductivity and low activation energy. LiFePO₄|Li cell with such SLIC exhibits significantly extended the cycling life.

From DUT-13 to DUT-190: By increasing linker size, high flexibility is increased even further and is explored using in situ PXRD and ¹²⁹Xe NMR during adsorption. Structures of two new flexible frameworks (DUT-180 and DUT-190) are presented.

Reported herein is a highly stable rod-packing Sc-MOF with Lewis basic bare N sites and two types of open channels demonstrating a superior CO₂ storage capacity, a remarkable separation ability for CO₂ mixtures, and prominent catalytic CO₂ cycloaddition.

Electrocatalytically active species of crystalline MOFs in a neutral OER process were identified as a mononuclear coordination compound and its isomer via a crystal-to-crystal transformation.

A hollow NiPSC electrode with a large d-spacing lattice distance has been demonstrated as an active SC electrode in a supercapacitor–battery hybrid device to achieve superior electrochemical performance.

A mixed metal–organic framework (FeCo-MOF-H₂) with excellent peroxidase-like catalytic activity was successfully prepared, which showed great application potential in the detection of H₂O₂ and glutathione.

2D Al-TCPP MOF nanosheets were prepared via a simple solvothermal synthesis method without the need for any surfactants and were found to be an effective sonosensitizer for sonodynamic cancer therapy.

Green synthesis of a highly porous CaSyr-1 bioMOF ideal for drug encapsulation in scCO₂, thus producing a triply bioactive system.

This study presents a novel use of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from olefins under halogen-free conditions. This green strategy offers the twin advantages of environment friendliness and value-added chemical production.

The N doped porous carbon and ZrO₂ composite (NC@ZrO₂) with a synergistic pseudocapacitive effect provides abundant active sites for zinc ions and favors fast ion diffusion, ensuring remarkable rate performance and long cycling stability.

A new strategy has been designed for enhancing the electrochemical performances of supercapacitor electrodes.

A series of rare-earth pillar-layered MOFs based on kgd supermolecular building layers have been successfully isolated for the first time, with ethane-selective properties benefiting ethylene purification in a one-step process.

Tb-DBA can not only serve as a light-operated dual-mechanism driven platform to detect VMA (an early pathological feature of neuroblastoma), but can also produce a different fluorescence response to epinephrine (EP, the metabolic precursor of VMA).

A dual-emission fluorescent probe towards Al³⁺ and F⁻ using a Ln-MOF material Eu-BDC-NH₂/TDA is employed with exceptional sensitivity, high selectivity, low LOD, excellent anti-interference characteristics and direct visual observation.

The schematic diagram of the water splitting of the as-prepared catalysts.

We have prepared a series of multiple (bi-varietal and tri-varietal) pillar-layered MOF thin films [Cu₂L₂dabco]_n (L = bdc, bpc and tpdc) with high lattice mismatch (up to 77.8%) using a liquid-phase epitaxial layer by layer method.

Tailoring pore size and surface chemistry of MOFs for efficient CO₂ capture and separation.

A robust nickel–organic framework (UPC-22) with intrinsic hydrogen bonds and one-dimensional functionalized channels for efficient purification of C₂H₄.

The effect of storage conditions on the optimal MOF pore volume and methane working capacity has been analyzed, and the benchmark NPF-200 was discovered.

We adopted thermal treatment prior to carbonization for Ni-HHTP to open blocked pores and expose multiple active sites. The electronic conductivity, reaction kinetics, specific capacity and stability are enhanced using thermal treatment Ni-HHTP as an electrode for SIBs.

ZIF-67/PBA heterostructure composites was prepared by the ion-exchange method with ZIF-67 nanoparticles as host MOFs. The electrochemical performance of the ZIF-67/PBA heterostructure composites improved after low-temperature calcination.

An indium-based microporous metal–organic framework, UTSA-22, with unique three-way rod-shaped secondary building units, exhibits efficient methane and hydrogen storage at room temperature.

A mechano-thermochemical method was proposed to prepare solvent-free rare-earth metal–organic frameworks with excellent fluorescence emission covering the whole region of visible and near-infrared light.

MOF composite membranes are prepared using the interfacial assembly method and functional modification of ILs to enhance the CO₂/CH₄ sieving performance.

A series of NiCo MOFs is prepared through a simple method by introducing pyridine as modulator and 4-halogenpyridine as surface functional group. The MOFs show excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability for the glucose oxidation reaction.

The combination of [In₂Tm₂(μ₂-OH)₂(CO₂)₁₀(H₂O)₂] clusters and H₅BDCP ligand generated a highly robust nanoporous MOF with high catalytic performance in the cycloaddition reaction of epoxides with CO₂ and Knoevenagel condensation.

For the first time, a metal–organic framework (Ce-MOF) bearing a Ce–OH₂–Ce motif was used to mimic the active sites of alkaline phosphatase.

A hydrolytically stable MOF with a narrow and hydrophobic pore aperture shows the capability to remove C₃H₄ from a C₃H₄/C₃H₆ binary gas by a size exclusion adsorption mechanism even if the binary gas was pre-saturated with water vapor.

A new family of microporous 2-dimensional rare earth metal organic frameworks based on a hexanuclear secondary building unit with capability to selectively detect vapours of volatile organic compounds and nitroaromatic explosives is reported.

The illustration of the fabrication of nanoalloys by laser nanometallurgy using multivariate MOF as precursor.

The UIO-66 membrane-derived ZrO₂–In₂O₃ bimetallic core–shell catalyst exhibits an excellent catalytic performance in the reverse water gas shift reaction.

A hemi-covalent organic framework, P-Ni₃(TAA)₃, with the different conversion efficiency (P) of 34–72% for bis(diimine) nickel units has been obtained. The 40%-Ni₃(TAA)₃ exhibits the improved chemical stability and significantly catalytic property.

In this work, Ni-MOF-Fe-2 was fabricated by using Fe³⁺ etching bulk Ni MOF, and the as-prepared catalyst showed significantly enhanced OER performances, which exhibited a low overpotential (η₁₀ = 269 mV) and remarkable durability in 1 M KOH.

Based on pH-responsive fluorescence associated with alkaline hydrolysis, a fluorometric method is proposed for characterizing the stability of MOFs. It can be used to monitor the whole process from nondestructive local hydrolysis to complete destructive hydrolysis.

In order to reduce usage cost and simplify the detection process, it is necessary to develop multifunctional and multi-emitter Ln-MOF luminescent sensors.

In this work, we combined red phosphorus and hierarchically porous carbon networks by the evaporation–condensation method to obtain a red phosphorus/porous carbon composite with outstanding performance for potassium storage.

A novel copper metal–organic framework catalyst for the highly efficient conversion of carbon dioxide with propargylic amines to 2-oxazolidinones.

A MOF-based gel with simultaneous fluorescence and morphologic changes triggered by water was developed and applied in a visible rewriting pattern and a smart artificial actuator.

A MOF-derived composite was utilized for fast, highly efficient and recyclable separation of oils from oil–water mixtures and water-in-oil emulsions. It also exhibited self-cleaning ability.

Two isomeric MOFs bearing stilbene moieties, which serve as promising candidates for highly volatile iodine uptake at room temperature, were prepared by adjusting the diffusion temperature.

Eu-MOF and Tb-MOF can be used as multi-response fluorescent sensors. Meanwhile, dual emission luminescent thermometer films were successfully prepared by Eu and Tb doping, which manifests excellent temperature sensing performance.

CoFe-MS/MOF nanocatalysts consisting of interconnected MOF ultrathin nanosheets doped with metal sulfide particles are prepared via a facile one-step solvothermal method as efficient electrocatalysts for the OER.

A precursor-converted method is adopted to synthesize 2D NiFe-MOF nanosheets from NiFe-LDH, which demonstrates excellent catalytic OER performance.

A sequential improving strategy of aliovalent Cd(II) substitution and post-synthetic ligand esterolysis has been proposed and implemented on a In(III)-MOF. The modified framework Cd-BQ-COOH exhibits 300-fold enhanced value of proton conductivitiy.

A ternary Ce-MOF/GO/Fe₃O₄ composite was prepared as a recyclable photocatalyst for photocatalytic degradation of chlortetracycline and showed excellent stability.

A mild crystallization approach to MOF@TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures for the efficient adsorption and photodegradation of anionic dyes.

Multi-scale simulations were carried out on a cage-interconnected metal-organic framework (JNU-2), revealing a rarely observed interaction-screening mechanism that corroborates its large C₂H₆/C₂H₄ adsorption selectivity.

Facile grafting of catalytically active Ag(I) into CO₂-philic NHC-MOF for simultaneous capture and conversion of CO₂ from dilute gas to value-added α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate and oxazolidinones under mild conditions is demonstrated.

The FePc-encapsulated MOF can be thermally converted into a series of Fe-based active centers embedded into N-doped carbon nanomaterials. It shows good oxygen reduction activity in terms of mass activity, long-term durability and methanol tolerance.

We for the first time systematically investigated a MOF UiO-66 based catalyst showing the synergistic effect of Lewis acid sites and Pd(II) for highly efficient methyl nitrite (MN) carbonylation to dimethyl carbonate (DMC).

The impact of urea-engineering in the hydrogen-bond donating reaction of indole and nitroalkene under mild conditions is established in a dual-functionalized MOF that exhibits highly recyclable and pore-fitting-induced size-selective Friedel–Crafts alkylation.

A generalizable strategy for the synthesis of rare-earth metal–organic frameworks (RE-MOFs) with 12-connected RE₉ clusters and shp topology. Pyrazine functionalization to boost antenna effect, realizing a robust platform for tetracyclines detection.

Mesoporous Ni₂(olz) exhibits the best D₂/H₂ separation capacity as its more accessible OMSs and migration rate of the hydrogen isotope are inclined to adsorb heavier D₂, supporting the important guidance on choosing MOFs for D₂/H₂ separation.

The water and pH stabilities of JXUST-12 have been greatly improved by SCSC  transformation and JXUST-12a exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity toward drug.

A mixed-lanthanide MOF with multiple readouts has been developed, which presents a promising paradigm for real-time and in situ determination of trace water and temperature.

A self-supplying O₂ nanosystem (Hf-MOF-MgO₂/DNA) based on a DNA functionalized MOF combined with magnesium peroxide nanoparticles was constructed. This nanosystem can be used for targeted PDT with a significantly enhanced therapeutic efficacy.

Three 3D MOFs, (Me₂NH₂)₂(H₃O)[LnL₂]·8H₂O (Ln = Eu, Gd, Tb), based on 2-sulfonyl-4,4′-biphenyldicarboxylic acid (H₃L) have been prepared which show a high proton conductivity under low relative humidity.