Research progress of metal-organic frameworks in environmental chemistry

Abstract

In the past decades, environmental problems have become more and more prominent and the development of new materials to solve environmental problems is imperative. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), assembled by organic bridging ligands and inorganic metal centers, are emerging as a relatively new class of porous materials. Comparing to conventional porous materials, MOFs possess high surface area, uniform aperture and adjustable structure, which endow them enormous potential applications in the field of environmental chemistry. Here, we introduce the recent progress in the theoretical and practical research of MOFs related to environmental chemistry, specifically in the applications of catalysis, gas storage, gas adsorption and separation, gas sensing and heavy-metal removal. The challenge and prospective investigation trends of MOFs in environmental chemistry are also proposed and discussed.