Design and applications of water-stable metal-organic frameworks: status and challenges

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted broad interest of researchers in different fields thanks to their high crystallinity, tunable porosity and chemical functionality. The development of broader applications and commercialization of this fascinating material require good water-stability which is very rare for MOFs of early stage. In the past several years, more and more water-stable MOFs have been reported and many applications in water medium have been developed significantly from the “proof of concept” stage. This review article summarizes the fundamental understanding, design strategies and novel synthetic methods of water-stable MOFs as well as recent development of applications using water-stable MOFs.