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Metal–organic framework (MOF) thin films are receiving increasing attention across a number of applications. Compared to bulk MOFs, thin films can meet many practical and special application requirements. Thin films based on MOFs synthesized at room temperature provide potential solutions to challenges associated with environmental pollution and energy shortage. In particular, growing MOF films at room temperature with large and uniformly dispersed surfaces has the potential to expose more effective active sites, making them suitable for various applications such as sensing, light harvesting, catalysis, adsorption and separation. This review presents diverse growth methods employed in the fabrication of room temperature-synthesized MOF films, emphasizing their significant applications across various domains. Finally, this review concludes by delving into prospective pathways to propel the progress of MOF film development at room temperature, accompanied by an exploration of the associated challenges that necessitate attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MOF-based foam has potential applications in removing antibiotics from water. However, shaping MOFs into foam usually sacrifices a portion of the specific surface area and thus reduces their adsorption properties, i.e., adsorption uptake and regeneration efficiency. Herein, a Janus-structured ZnO@ZIF-8(-NH2)/cellulose nanofiber foam (C–ZnO0.5/ZAA foam) was designed as a photo-regenerable adsorbent for highly efficient tetracycline (TC) removal. Janus structured C–ZnO0.5/ZAA foam with a hybrid ZnO/ZIF-8 interface was constructed by an interface-induced epitaxial growth strategy via using ZnO as anchor points for amino-imidazolamide (AICA) modified ZIF-8 growth. The obtained C–ZnO0.5/ZAA foam showed a relatively higher specific surface area (555.7 m2 g−1) and hierarchical porous structure due to the high loading and dispersion of ZIF-8 on macroporous cellulose nanofiber foam compared to reported MOF foams. Adsorption and desorption performance showed that: (1) its adsorption capacity of TC reached up to 257 mg g−1 at a low concentration of 20 mg L−1 at 25 °C, about 1.9–11.1 times higher adsorption uptake than that of state-of-the-art adsorbents; (2) with photocatalysis-assisted regeneration, this foam achieved complete desorption in water within only 4 h after reaching TC adsorption saturation, whose desorption efficiency had increased 7–8 times that of the traditional regeneration method; (3) through a semi-continuous fixed-bed set-up, C–ZnO0.5/ZAA foam exhibited excellent reusability for TC removal, with only a 5% decrease in initial uptake after 10 cyclic runs. This work proposes a strategy for designing and fabricating a photo-regenerable MOF-based foam with high adsorption capacity for highly efficient capture of TC from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carboxymethyl cellulose-foam-supported HKUST-1@graphdiyne (HK@GDY/CMC-B) was constructed with high thermal conductivity and directional channels to enhance the ad-/de-sorption efficiency of acetaldehyde. Characterization results showed that (1) HKUST-1 grew within CMC and GDY via an in situ tri-phase cross-linking strategy, forming a special "alkynyl‖Cu‖COOH" interface, which maintained the high BET surface area (945.1 m2 g−1) of the HK@GDY/CMC-B foam and established a tight connection among the different components of the composite; (2) the π-conjugated carbon structure of GDY and the unique "alkynyl‖Cu‖COOH" interface within HK@GDY/CMC-B accelerated the phonon conduction and significantly enhanced the thermal conductivity of HK@GDY/CMC-B (336 mW m−1 K−1); (3) the directional channels and the hierarchical pore structure with a unique interface in the HK@GDY/CMC-B foam facilitated the diffusion and adsorption of VOCs; (4) the compact "alkynyl‖Cu‖COOH" interface generated more unsaturated Cu(II) and Cu(I) sites and increased adsorbent surface polarity to capture acetaldehyde. Consequently, the obtained HK@GDY/CMC-B exhibited an excellent acetaldehyde adsorption capacity of up to 11.0 mmol g−1, which was 1.3–3.4 times higher than that of many state-of-the-art adsorbents. Kinetics performance data revealed that the diffusivity of acetaldehyde on the HK@GDY/CMC-B foam increased by 60% compared to that of the pristine HKUST-1. Similarly, the desorption rate of HK@GDY/CMC-B was 2.2–6.5 times faster than that of several state-of-the-art adsorbents under similar temperature programmed desorption. This greatly realized an energy-conserving approach for adsorbent regeneration. Based on these findings, the current tri-phase cross-linking strategy can be deemed as an efficient tactic to further improve the adsorption efficiency of MOFs for fast adsorption of VOCs on the commercial level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High N-doped porous graphitic carbons (S-NPGCs) with multi-flaky shell hollow structure were prepared by using CaCO3 as a green/useful template. S-NPGCs exhibit very fast adsorption for toluene (31 times that of HKUST-1) and effectively selective enrichment of small peptides with high inhibitory activity of angiotensin converting enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A graphene/chromium-MOF(MIL-101) composite is investigated to serve as a host for sulfur immobilisation in Li -- S batteries. The unique structure with a large specific area and a conductive shell ensures a high dispersion of sulfur in the composite and minimizes the loss of polysulfides to the electrolyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing advanced porous materials with industrial potential to separate multicomponent gas mixtures that are structurally similar is a crucial but challenging task. Here, we report the efficient one-step separation of ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) from acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) using an ultramicroporous metal-organic framework UTSA-16. The synergistic effect of the polarized carboxyl groups and coordinated water molecules in its pore channel enables the material to have high uptakes for C 2 H 2 and CO 2 due to electrostatic potential matching, as well as excellent separation selectivity against C 2 H 4 . Breakthrough experiments suggest that UTSA-16 can efficiently separate 99.9% pure C 2 H 4 from ternary mixtures with a high productivity of 403 L kg -1 . Moreover, the preparation cost of UTSA-16 is significantly lower than other related adsorbents by 40-2000 times, indicating its unique potential for industrial applications.

High N-doped porous graphitic carbons (S-NPGCs) with multi-flaky shell hollow structure were prepared by using CaCO 3 as a green/useful template. S-NPGCs exhibit very fast adsorption for toluene (31 times that of HKUST-1) and effectively selective enrichment of small peptides with high inhibitory activity of angiotensin converting enzymes.

A novel composite of sulfur immobilized into porous N-doped carbon microspheres (NCMSs-S) was synthesized. This composite cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries delivers a high specific capacity and superior rate capability and cycle stability, with a reversible capacity of ~605 mA h g(-1) at 2 C and 85% capacity retention after 500 cycles.