Metal-Organic Frameworks
Field
Porous Materials, Chemistry
Structure
Metal nodes + organic linkers
Record Surface
7,839 m2/g (NU-110)
Known MOFs
100,000+ structures
Capstone Papers
1,800+ (250+ citations)
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline porous materials composed of metal ions or clusters coordinated to organic ligands. Their exceptional surface areas (up to 7,839 m2/g), tunable pore sizes, and chemical versatility make them promising for gas storage, separation, catalysis, and drug delivery.
This research survey covers highly-cited papers on MOF synthesis, applications, stability, and computational discovery.
100,000+
Known Structures
500+ kg
CO2/kg MOF (capacity)
Structure and synthesis
MOFs are built from two components:
- Metal nodes: Single ions (Zn2+, Cu2+) or clusters (Zn4O, Cu2, Zr6O4(OH)4) that define coordination geometry
- Organic linkers: Di-, tri-, or polytopic ligands (carboxylates, imidazolates, pyridines) that bridge nodes
Synthesis methods
- Solvothermal: Heating in DMF/DEF at 80-150°C, most common route
- Room temperature: Aqueous synthesis for sensitive applications
- Mechanochemical: Ball milling for solvent-free, scalable production
- Electrochemical: Anodic oxidation for metal supply, continuous production
Archetypal MOFs
MOF-5
First porous MOF (1999). Zn4O clusters, BDC linkers. 3,800 m2/g.
Prototype for reticular chemistry
HKUST-1
Cu2 paddlewheel clusters, BTC linkers. Open metal sites for catalysis.
1,500 m2/g, commercial (Basolite)
UiO-66
Zr6 clusters, exceptional thermal and chemical stability. Works in water.
1,200 m2/g, defect engineering
ZIF-8
Zn-imidazolate, sodalite topology. Flexible gates, membrane fabrication.
1,800 m2/g, commercial
MIL-101
Cr3 clusters, giant pores (34Å cages). Record water uptake.
4,100 m2/g, stable
NU-1000
Zr6 clusters, mesoporous channels. Post-synthetic modification platform.
2,200 m2/g, catalysis applications
Gas storage and separation
MOFs excel at gas capture due to high surface areas and tunable chemistry:
| Application |
Top MOFs |
Performance |
Challenge |
| H2 storage |
MOF-5, NU-100, rht-MOFs |
7.5 wt% at 77K |
Room-temp uptake |
| CH4 storage |
HKUST-1, MOF-905 |
263 cc/cc (35 bar) |
Usable capacity |
| CO2 capture |
Mg-MOF-74, SIFSIX |
8.5 mmol/g at 1 bar |
Humidity stability |
| CO2/N2 separation |
SIFSIX-3-Zn, cg-MOFs |
Selectivity >10,000 |
Membrane integration |
Commercial applications: BASF produces Basolite MOFs for natural gas storage in vehicles. Svante uses MOFs for industrial CO2 capture.
Catalysis
MOFs serve as catalysts, catalyst supports, and precursors to porous carbons:
- Open metal sites: Coordinatively unsaturated metals (HKUST-1, MOF-74) activate substrates
- Metalloporphyrin MOFs: PCN-222 with Fe-porphyrin for oxidation catalysis
- Enzyme encapsulation: Lipase@ZIF-8 protects enzymes while maintaining activity
- Photocatalysis: NH2-MIL-125 for visible light hydrogen evolution
- MOF-derived carbons: Pyrolysis creates M-N-C single-atom catalysts for ORR/HER
Machine learning for MOFs
Computational approaches accelerate MOF discovery from the 100,000+ known structures:
- High-throughput screening: DFT-based databases (QMOF, CoRE MOF) enable virtual screening
- ML property prediction: Graph neural networks predict gas uptake, stability from structure
- Generative models: VAEs and diffusion models design novel MOF topologies
- Inverse design: Target-property-driven synthesis planning
2024 milestone: GNoME (Google DeepMind) predicted 2.2M stable crystals including novel MOF compositions.
Key papers
See also