Applications of metal-organic framework based membranes in water purification: A review

Crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are formed by reticular synthesis, which creates strong bonds between inorganic and organic units. Careful selection of MOF constituents can yield crystals of ultrahigh porosity and high thermal and chemical stability. These characteristics allow the interior of MOFs to be chemically altered for use in gas separation, gas storage, and catalysis, among other applications. The precision commonly exercised in their chemical modification and the ability to expand their metrics without changing the underlying topology have not been achieved with other solids. MOFs whose chemical composition and shape of building units can be multiply varied within a particular structure already exist and may lead to materials that offer a synergistic combination of properties.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are constructed from metal ions/clusters coordinated by organic linkers (or bridging-ligands). The hallmark of MOFs is their permanent porosity, which is frequently found in MOFs constructed from metal-clusters. These clusters are often formed in situ, whereas the linkers are generally pre-formed. The geometry and connectivity of a linker dictate the structure of the resulting MOF. Adjustments of linker geometry, length, ratio, and functional-group can tune the size, shape, and internal surface property of a MOF for a targeted application. In this critical review, we highlight advances in MOF synthesis focusing on linker design. Examples of building MOFs to reach unique properties, such as unprecedented surface area, pore aperture, molecular recognition, stability, and catalysis, through linker design are described. Further search for application-oriented MOFs through judicious selection of metal clusters and organic linkers is desirable. In this review, linkers are categorized as ditopic (Section 1), tritopic (Section 2), tetratopic (Section 3), hexatopic (Section 4), octatopic (Section 5), mixed (Section 6), desymmetrized (Section 7), metallo (Section 8), and N-heterocyclic linkers (Section 9).