Recent progress in mixed rare earth metal-organic frameworks: From synthesis to application

The synergistic effects of mixed-metal MOFs provide a promising platform to overcome the limitations of traditional monometallic MOFs and achieve superior performance, which are still in their infancy. Mixedrare earth-based metal-organic frameworks (MRE MOFs) have emerged as a new class of mixed-metal MOFs and attracted significant attention due to the high and variable coordination numbers of rareearth metal clusters, intriguing architectural structure, and distinguishing functional properties. Despite plenty of factors influencing the preparation of MRE MOFs, it is also a challenge to precisely characterize the states of mixed metals. Particularly, the MRE MOFs with multi-valent rare earth metal nodes are more sophisticated than mixed transition metal MOFs. Multi-scale computational calculation serves as a tool for in-depth interpretation and analysis of the MRE MOFs at the electronic level. In almost every case, several experimental techniques need to be wisely chosen to unambiguously characterize mixedmetal MOFs. In this review, we summarize the recent and important progress in the preparation method, characterization techniques of MRE MOFs prepared by mixing transition and rare-earth metals or mixing multi-rare-earth metals, and their applications in catalysis, adsorption decontamination and luminescence. Special emphasis is placed on the effects of different metals on their structure and properties. Finally, we also present a short conclusion and future research directions for MRE MOFs.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The synergistic effects of mixed-metal MOFs offer a promising platform to overcome the limitations of traditional monometallic MOFs and achieve superior performance. Mixed-rare earth-based metal-organic frameworks (MRE MOFs) have attracted significant attention due to their intriguing structure, high coordination numbers of rare-earth metal clusters, and unique functional properties. However, the precise characterization of mixed metals in MRE MOFs poses a challenge, especially for those with multi-valent rare-earth metal nodes. This review summarizes recent progress in the preparation and characterization techniques of MRE MOFs, as well as their applications in catalysis, adsorption decontamination, and luminescence, with a focus on the effects of different metals on their structure and properties.