Recent innovations in synthesis/characterization of advanced nano-porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs); current/future trends with a focus on the smart anti-corrosion features

Porous materials have received significant attention for years, among different types of them, Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are the fairly new and fast-growing ones. They are equipped with an incredibly large area of surface, and highly flexible capacity coming from their different number of available ligands and metal nodes that can be used interchangeably to give new properties to them so that they can be employed for various applications such as catalyst uses, drug delivery, water treatment, pollution, corrosion, etc. This review paper aimed to overview the researches carried out with regard to MOFs and put into perspective the trend of research in this field of study. In this respect, methods utilized for the synthesis of the MOFs such as solvothermal, sonochemical, mechanochemical, electrochemical, and microwave were explored. Also, different classes of MOFs like UiO, ZIF, HKUST-1, and rare-earth-based MOFs were defined. Moreover, several applications of MOFs (catalyst, sensors, drug delivery, corrosion, thin-film, and coating) were probed. This endeavor paid special attention to the corrosion application of MOFs and tried to delve deeper into this realm. Finally, it was hoped that this scrutiny could push forward new ideas and become the beginning of new investigations.

Automated summary

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a new and rapidly growing type of porous material with vast surface area and versatile capacity. Research trends in MOFs synthesis methods, classification, and applications, particularly in the field of corrosion, are currently a focus of study with the aim to inspire new ideas and further investigations.