Understanding the modifications and applications of highly stable porous frameworks via UiO-66

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been one of the most intensely studied family of hybrid porous crystalline materials for decades, whose potential applications cover almost all the concerned technological fields ranging from environment, medical, and biology to energy and electronics. However, the low stability of MOFs has been the most crucial weakness of this type of material, hindering its development in many applications not only as pure MOFs but also in the grand field of porous nanomaterials. Fortunately, UiO-66, a zirconium terephthalate–based MOF, is found to possess remarkably uniform and tunable pore sizes, exceptionally high surface areas as well as active Zr-O clusters. It also holds incredible hydrothermal stability even higher than 350°C because of its strong Zr-O bond with high coordination number of Zr(IV), which further offers high resistance to a wide range of solvents. These outstanding qualities have granted UiO-66 and its derived UiOs extraordinarily promising future potentials. Since the very applications of UiO-66 itself are of high values and, more essentially, the high comprehensive properties of UiO-66 can lead researchers to explore and accomplish achievements that no other MOFs can do, it is of vital importance to systematically categorize and analyze the properties and applications of UiO-66 as it is an ideal representative to study the modification and applicable properties of general UiOs, MOFs, and even porous materials. However, no work has been done to summarize MOFs through the perspective of one classic Zr-MOF, namely, UiO-66. Moreover, there is hardly no work on the study of MOFs via the angle from one single branch such as UiOs or ZIFs. Therefore, in this organized review, details of the synthesis, modulation, and functionalization of a series of UiOs, especially those of UiO-66, are presented.