Metal–organic frameworks: Magic building blocks and revolutionary material architectures

Prof. Susumu Kitagawa, Prof. Richard Robson, and Prof. Omar M. Yaghi were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 for their research work in developing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) [1]. As a class of crystalline porous materials, MOFs are constructed with metal nodes and organic linkers through coordination bonds. Through the design of the building blocks and rational modification, MOFs can be developed with high surface areas, tunable pore sizes, and customizable chemical functionality, delivering multidisciplinary applications [[2], [3], [4], [5]]. However, despite the extensive academic efforts to develop MOFs with diverse structures and functionalities, translating MOFs from laboratory success to industrial reality remains challenging.

Firstly, MOFs are intrinsically susceptible to environmental conditions, which readily trigger adverse chemical and structural transformations [6]. As a result, structure–property degradation often occurs during long-term utilization of MOFs.

Secondly, the current solvent-based methods for MOF preparation all have certain limitations [7], such as extensive use of highly toxic organic solvents, reliance on custom-made special reaction equipment, inconsistent morphology and quality of materials in different batches, and low space-time yield, which collectively lead to high cost, safety hazards, and environmental pollution upon scale-up. Moreover, the current synthesis methods mainly yield MOFs in powdery form that are difficult to be directly integrated into practical devices. Consequently, molding MOFs into three-dimensional macroscopic structures becomes a critical but understudied step in the development and industrialization of MOFs [8].

Thirdly, the high cost of large-scale MOF production greatly restricts their industrialization, which arises from the price of monomers, chemicals, and reactors, as well as the consumption of energy, labor, and additional resources. For example, MIL-160(Al) was taken as a model material with synthetic conditions of aqueous solution and ambient pressure for production cost estimation, revealing that raw materials account for the largest cost component, followed by yield, operating labor, administrative expenses, etc [9].

Taken together, these challenges inspire us to focus on aspects including material design, optimization of synthesis and forming routes, and cost control throughout the entire process. Therefore, we propose the following development roadmap: 1) Development of robust MOFs through rational design of metal nodes and rigid polydentate ligands to simultaneously preserve performance while ensuring stability. 2) Revolution of synthetic conditions towards normal pressure and temperature, continuous-flow, and solvent-free green processes to achieve ton-scale synthesis of high-performance MOF products. For further industrial application requirements, developing molding processes for the fabrication of free-standing MOFs in the form of foam, fiber, membrane, etc. 3) Cost reduction through utilizing bulk chemical-grade monomers, intensifying synthetic processes, and automating operations, and recovering energy to make MOFs more competitive in various fields. Beyond these strategies, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning provide powerful tools for data-driven material design, property prediction, screening of candidate frameworks, intelligent synthesis, and process optimization. Looking ahead, the fusion of AI and MOF research is expected to shift materials innovation toward predictive, readily scalable, and application-oriented paradigms.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Bing Han: Writing – original draft, Conceptualization. Xishi Tai: Writing – review & editing, Validation. Xiangke Wang: Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.