Metal–Organic-Framework-Based Optical Biosensors: Recent Advances in Pathogen Detection and Environmental Monitoring

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as highly versatile materials for the development of next-generation optical biosensors owing to their tunable porosity, large surface area, and customizable chemical functionality. Recently, MOF-based platforms have shown substantial potential in various optical transduction modalities, including fluorescence, luminescence, and colorimetric sensing, enabling the highly sensitive and selective detection of biological analytes. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in MOF-based optical biosensors, focusing on their applications in pathogen detection and environmental monitoring. We highlight key design strategies, including MOF functionalization, hybridization with nanoparticles or dyes, and integration into microfluidic and wearable devices. Emerging methods, such as point-of-care diagnostics, label-free detection, and real-time monitoring, are also discussed. Finally, the current challenges and future directions for the practical deployment of MOF-based optical biosensors in clinical and field environments are discussed.