Design and Applications of Metal–Organic-Framework-Derived Carbon Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as highly versatile precursors for the synthesis of functional carbon materials. Through controlled thermal and chemical transformation, MOF-derived carbons can retain the high surface area, ordered porosity and compositional tunability of their parent frameworks, while exhibiting enhanced chemical stability, electrical conductivity and catalytic functionality. Unlike existing collections that focus primarily on materials synthesis or isolated catalytic performance, this Special Issue emphasises a process-oriented perspective, linking bottom-up material design to process integration, scalability and real-world application. In particular, the Issue seeks to advance understanding of how MOF-derived carbon architectures can be rationally engineered to address challenges in sustainable catalysis, energy conversion, CO₂ utilisation and bioprocess intensification.

By bridging fundamental materials chemistry with applied chemical and bioprocess engineering, this Special Issue aims to showcase how MOF-derived carbons are transitioning from laboratory curiosities to enabling platforms for next-generation catalytic and biological systems.

We invite original research articles and authoritative review papers that connect structure–property–process relationships and demonstrate clear relevance to industrially and environmentally significant processes.

1. Advanced Synthesis and Process-Driven Design

• Controlled thermal conversion and post-treatment strategies for MOF-derived carbons
• Sacrificial templating and morphology control (nanosheets, hollow spheres, polyhedra)
• Doping strategies including single-atom catalysts (SACs) and multi-heteroatom co-doping (N, P, S, B)
• Hierarchical porosity engineering for enhanced mass transport and reaction kinetics
• Process scalability, reproducibility and structure–performance optimisation

2. Catalytic and Energy-Related Applications

• Electrocatalysis (ORR, OER, HER) and structure-guided catalyst design
• Photocatalytic and electrochemical degradation of pollutants
• Heterogeneous catalysis for fine and specialty chemical synthesis
• MOF-derived carbons for CO₂ capture, activation and conversion
• Integration of MOF-derived carbons into catalytic reactors and energy devices

3. Bioprocessing and Biotechnology

MOF-derived carbons offer unique advantages for bioprocessing systems, including high surface area for biomolecule immobilisation, tuneable surface chemistry for bio-compatibility and electrical conductivity for bio-electrochemical interfaces. This Special Issue particularly welcomes contributions that demonstrate how these material properties translate into measurable bioprocess performance improvements.

Topics include:

• Enzyme immobilisation and stabilisation on MOF-derived carbon supports
• Conductive carbon architectures for microbial fuel cells and bio-electrochemical systems
• Biosensing platforms for electrochemical detection of biomolecules and contaminants
• Application in bioremediation of emerging pollutants and waste-to-value bioprocesses
• Process performance, stability and scalability of MOF-carbon-enabled biotechnologies

Dr. Bamidele Victor Ayodele
Dr. SK Safdar Hossain
Dr. Helen Onyeaka
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• MOF-derived carbon materials
• process-oriented materials design
• CO₂ utilisation and energy conversion
• bioprocess intensification
• bio-electrochemical systems