Metal–organic frameworks: Structures and functional applications

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), constructed by organic linkers and metal nodes, are a new class of crystalline porous materials with significant application potentials. Featured with extremely high surface area, large porosity, tunable pore size, and flexible functionality, MOFs have gained extensive explorations as a highly versatile platform for functional applications in many research fields. This review presents an up-to-date summary ranging from the structural and physical properties of MOFs to their recent application advances including gas storage and separation, heterogeneous catalysis, chemical sensors, proton conductivity, biomedicine, and others. The structure–property relationships are particularly emphasized. Finally, the newly emerging research trends of MOFs and the unresolved challenges for functional applications are discussed in detail.