Advanced Catalysis Technologies Using Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Catalytic Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2025 | Viewed by 32
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of crystalline materials composed of metal ions or clusters coordinated to organic ligands, forming highly porous structures. Their exceptional surface area, tunable pore size, structural diversity, and chemical versatility make MOFs ideal candidates for advanced catalysis technologies. In catalysis, MOFs offer unique advantages which are outlined below.
- Tailorable Active Sites: By carefully selecting metal centers and organic linkers, MOFs can be designed with specific active sites for targeted catalytic reactions.
- High Surface Area and Porosity: The large internal surface areas (some MOFs reach a specific surface area of 10,000 m²/g) and interconnected pore networks allow for efficient mass transport and high catalyst loading.
- Structural Tunability: MOFs' structures can be modified post-synthetically (e.g., by doping, functionalization, or defect engineering) to enhance catalytic activity, selectivity, and stability.
- Single-Atom Catalysis: MOFs can anchor isolated metal atoms in well-defined coordination environments, maximizing atom utilization and creating highly efficient catalysts.
- Thermal and Chemical Stability: Advances in MOF chemistry have led to materials that remain stable under harsh catalytic conditions, including high temperatures and reactive chemical environments.
In addition, applications of MOF-based catalysis technologies include the following:
- Energy Conversion: MOFs are employed in electrocatalysis (e.g., hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), CO2 reduction) and photocatalysis for sustainable energy generation.
- Environmental Remediation: MOFs catalyze the degradation of pollutants and toxic chemicals in air and water.
- Fine Chemical Synthesis: MOF catalysts enable highly selective organic transformations, such as oxidation, hydrogenation, and C–C bond formation.
- Biomimetic Catalysis: Certain MOFs mimic the function of natural enzymes ("MOFzymes"), offering high specificity and mild operating conditions.
Recent trends have also focused on MOF-derived materials, where MOFs are used as precursors to create porous carbons, metal oxides, metal sulfides, and composite nanostructures with outstanding catalytic properties after thermal or chemical treatment. Overall, MOF-based catalysis technologies are revolutionizing the field of heterogeneous catalysis by offering unprecedented control over structure, composition, and functionality at the molecular level.
If you would like to submit papers to this Special Issue or have any questions, please contact the in-house editor, Ms. Rita Lin (rita.lin@mdpi.com).
Dr. Hani Nasser Abdelhamid
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- reticular chemistry
- Metal–Organic Frameworks
- catalysis
- electrocatalysis
- photocatalysis
- nanozymes
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