Macrocycle-containing metal-organic frameworks in adsorption and related applications

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have demonstrated great potential as a novel type of adsorbents. The incorporation of macrocycles, which are known for their distinctive host-guest recognition behaviors, has been extensively utilized in the past decade as an effective approach to further enhance the strength and selectivity of the adsorption capabilities of MOFs. The synergy between the MOF backbone and macrocycle units has been verified by various studies. Macrocycles enhance adsorption performance from a thermodynamic perspective by providing binding sites for adsorbates, while MOFs contribute in the kinetic aspect by utilizing their network and channel structure to facilitate the contact of macrocycle units with adsorbates. This review summarizes the recent advancements in macrocycle-containing MOF adsorbents, emphasizing the improvements in adsorption performance achieved through the incorporation of macrocycle units. The reported works are categorized according to the types of macrocycles. Additionally, we briefly present the facilitation effect of adsorption on other applications of macrocycle-containing MOFs, such as molecule separation and sensing, to showcase the broad potential of this type of adsorbent. Finally, we present our insights on the challenges and opportunities for further research in this area.