Metal-organic frameworks as an emerging tool for sensing various targets in aqueous and biological media

Abstract

The superior potential of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) in sensing applications is well known due to their advantageous properties (e.g., enhanced tunability and large surface area). Nonetheless, their applications in aqueous media are limited largely due to their low stability against water molecules. This limitation has prompted researchers to develop water-stable MOFs (WMOFs) to overcome susceptibility to hydrolysis. As such, the efficacy of WMOFs has been exploited extensively for numerous sensing applications in aqueous and biological media with or without structural modifications (e.g., addition of chemical functionalities, development of thin films, or tuning of morphologies). This review highlights the topical developments in the application of WMOFs toward the sensing of various target species (e.g., metal ions, explosives, and antibiotics) in aqueous and biological media. The discussion has been extended to describe challenges of WMOF-based sensing and to help build a roadmap for its advanced research in many relevant fields.