Light-Harvesting in Porous Crystalline Compositions: Where We Stand toward Robust Metal–Organic Frameworks

Abstract

Molecular assemblies in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have the potential to be considered as functional artificial light-harvesting (LH) system with features similar to the natural LH machinery. With large photon absorptivity, the frameworks provide novel energy-transfer pathways enabling long-distance energy migration both in singlet and triplet manifolds. Furthermore, considering the eventual energy conversion utility, various strategies have been explored to achieve long-lived excited states and integration of photochemical “reaction-centers”. Understanding the excited state properties, such as exciton size, delocalization length, and dynamics within MOF-based compositions as a function of their underlying topological-net can help to implement new strategies with improved LH utility. This paper summarizes the various unique photophysical process and elucidates how their structural parameters play a critical role in defining the photophysical processes within MOF structures with a particular emphasis on the robust Zr6IV-oxo node derived frameworks as future compositions.