Advances in MOF Fabrication Techniques: Tuning Material Properties for Specific Applications †

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of porous crystalline materials, consists of metal ions or clusters coordinated to organic linkers. The unique features of MOFs such as exceptionally high surface area, chemical versatility, and tunable porosity make them highly suitable for several applications, including gas storage, drug delivery, catalysis, and sensing. Various synthesis techniques, including solvothermal, hydrothermal, microwave-assisted, mechanochemical, electrochemical, and sonochemical methods, have been used for the fabrication of MOFs. The selection and optimization of synthesis technique significantly influence the fundamental framework structure, the existence of defects, the available active sites, and the effectiveness of MOFs in special applications. This study focuses on advances in MOF fabrication techniques and examines their role in tuning the key properties of MOFs for targeted applications. The insights of this work may guide researchers in selecting or designing appropriate fabrication strategies for application-specific development of MOFs.