With increasing pace, crystalline open frameworks are moving to larger scale, mature applications that stretch as broadly as catalysis, separation, water purification, adsorption, sensing, biomineralization and energy storage. A particular challenge in this development can be the unexpected variation in material properties from batch to batch, even when a cursory analysis would indicate that no process changes occurred. Our team has lived this journey in many larger projects where pilot scale production of metal-organic frameworks for use in devices has been a key milestone and suffered the difficulties of unexpected performance departures. In this Perspective, we aim to share some of the learning outcomes in the hope that it will further speed development in the field.

This review article focuses on metal–organic framework (MOF) composites and the impact of mixing MOFs with other materials, such as polymers, carbon-based materials, and magnetic particles, to increase their performance to remove metals from water.

The possibility of creating well-controlled empty space within liquids is conceptually intriguing, and from an application perspective, full of potential.

It is increasingly apparent that porous liquids (PLs) have unique use cases due to the combination of ready liquid handling and their inherently high adsorption capacity. Among the PL types, those with permanent porosity are the most promising. Although Type II and III PLs have economic synthetic methods and can be made from a huge variety of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and solvents, these nanocomposites still need to be stable to be useful. This work aims to systematically explore the possibilities of creating PLs using different MOF modification methods. This delivered underpinning insights into the molecular-level influence between solvent and MOF on the overall nanocomposite stability. Zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks were combined with two different solvents of varying chemistry to deliver CO₂ sorption capacities as high as 2.9 mmol g^-1 at 10 bar. The results of the study could have far-reaching ramifications for future investigations in the PL field.

Despite the known impacts on climate change of carbon dioxide emissions, the continued use of fossil fuels for energy generation leading to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere is evident. Therefore, innovation to address and reduce CO₂ emissions from industrial operations remains an urgent and crucial priority. A viable strategy in the area is postcombustion capture mainly through absorption by aqueous alkanolamines, which focuses on the separation of CO₂ from flue gas, despite its limitations. Within this context, porous materials, particularly metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), have arisen as favorable alternatives owing to their significant adsorption capacity, selectivity, and reduced regeneration energy demands. This research evaluates the engineering insights into tailored MOFs for enhanced CO₂ capture, focusing on three series of MOFs (ZIF, UiO-66, and BTC) to investigate the effects of organic ligands, functional groups, and metal ions. The evaluation encompassed a range of aspects including adsorption isotherms of pure gases [CO₂ and nitrogen (N₂)] and mixed gas mixture (CO₂ and N₂ with 15:85% ratio), along with utilization of the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) to simulate multicomponent gas adsorption isotherms. Moreover, the reliability of IAST for mixed gas adsorption prediction has been investigated in detail. The research offers valuable insights into the correlation between the characteristics of MOFs and their effectiveness in gas separation and how these characteristics contribute to the differences between IAST predictions and experimental results. The findings enhance the understanding of how to enhance MOF characteristics in order to reduce CO₂ emissions and also highlight the need for advanced models that consider thermodynamic nonidealities to accurately predict the behavior of mixed gas adsorption in MOFs. As a result, the incorporation of MOFs with enhanced predictability and reliability into CO₂ capture industrial processes is facilitated.

Magnetic porous liquids offer the potential to combine the sorption capacity of porous solids with the processibility of liquids.