Table 1.

The comparison of MOFs with other materials: characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages.

Materials	Characteristics	Nucleic acid detection		Immunological detection		Refs.
		Advantages	Disadvantages	Advantages	Disadvantages
Graphenes	(1) 2D planar structure; (2) Electric conductive; (3) Thermal conductive; (4) High surface area (2630 m2/g); (5) Chemical stable.	(1) Adsorption of probs; (2) Fluorescence quencher; (3) Low cost; (4) Quick detection	(1) Preparation of single-layer structures is difficult; (2) Mass production is limited; (3) Functional groups is limited; (4) The fluorescence recovery is relatively difficult.	(1) Electrochemical sigal; (2) Signal amplification and label-free biosensing; (3) Low cost.	(1) Lack of modification sites; (2) Limited material production.	Afsahi et al. (2018)
Graphene oxides	(1) 2D planar structure; (2) Electric conductive; (3) Thermal conductive; (4) High surface area; (5) Oxygen-rich functional groups (-OH, –COOH).	(1) Adsorption of probes; (2) Fluorescent quencher; (3) Low cost; (4) Quick detection.	(1) Detection stability; (2) Detection Reproducibility; (3) False positive signal; (4) The specificity and sensitivity of the aptamer.	(1) Rich in hydroxyl and carboxyl groups for probe linkage; (2) Provide active sites for bioreceptor; (3) Signal amplification; (4) Label-free biosensing.	(1) Complicated operation; (2) Interference by functional groups.	(Krishnan et al., 2019; Wei, 2013; Zhao et al., 2018)
Magnetic nanoparticles	(1) Superparamagnetism; (2) Convenient separation; (3) Large surface area.	(1) The reproducibility and stability are improved; (2) The adsorption capacities of sensitive molecules are improved; (3) Low cost.	(1) Low noise background; (2) Sensitivity and selectivity.	(1) Facilitates enzyme immobilization; (2) Signal amplification; (3) Enrichment of substances.	(1) Stability needs to be improved; (2) Easy to aggregate.	(Pastucha et al., 2019; Tiwari et al., 2015; Zheng et al., 2020)
Silica nanoparticles	(1) Uniform and controllable particle size; (2) High surface area; (3) Easily modifiable surface.	(1) Sensitivity; (2) Selectivity; (3) Non-toxic and high biological affinity; (4) Low cost; (5) Quick detection.	(1) Large size; (2) Poor permeability; (3) High cost and immunogenicity; (4) High background fluorescence.	(1) Signals amplification; (2) Low detection limit (fg/mL); (3) High stability (4) Easy to be synthesized and surface modified.	(1) Difficult to prepare; (2) Easy to aggregate.	(Kholafazad Kordasht et al., 2020; Luo et al., 2020a; Vandghanooni et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2014)
Gold Nanoparticles (AuNPs)	(1) Biocompatible; (2) Wide size distribution (1–150 nm); (3) Photoelectric effect with size and morphology dependence; (4) Strong covalent bond with thiol; (5) Electric conductive.	(1) High sensitivity; (2) Rapid response; (3) Rich surface active sites; (4) Strong adsorption.	(1) Difficult to metabolize; (2) Expensive reagents; (3) The stability of gold nanosol is affected by environmental factors; (4) non-specific.	(1) Electron conductive; (2) High affinity to immunological molecules; (3) High sensitivity; (4) Non-specific adsorption; (5) Regeneration.	(1) Easy to aggregate in the electrolyte solution.	(Brunner and Kraemer, 2004; Kumar et al., 2015; Steinmetz et al., 2019)
Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs)	(1) Electric conductive; (2) High surface area; (3) Rich in oxygen functional groups at the end and the side of the wall for ligand immobilizing;	(1) Easy functionalization; (2) Rich in oxygen functional groups for immobilizing; (3) Quick detection.	(1) The fluorescence is difficult to recover; (2) Unmodified CNTs have poor dispersion; (3) The retouching process is complicated.	(1) Electronic mobility and biocompatibility; (2) High sensitivity; (3) Significant signal amplification; (4) Label-free sensing.	(1) Poor dispersion; (2) Lack of uniform length; (3) Impurities and catalysts are difficult to be removed.	(Li et al., 2008; Wei, 2013)
Metal organic frameworks (MOFs)	(1) Large specific surface area (10,400 m2/g); (2) High porosity (90%); (3) Tunable pore sizes (from micropore to mesopore); (4) High loading efficiency; (5) Easy functionalization and postsynthetic modification; (6) Biocompatible and biodegradable.	(1) Quick detection; (2) Adsorption and quenching the fluorophore-labeled probes; (3) Fluorescence quenching ability can be adjusted by ligands or functional groups; (4) Selectivity is based on size discrimination capacity; (5) Low cost.	(1) Unstable in acid; (2) The detection limit in the range from pM to nM.	(1) Post-synthesis modification, specific molecular recognition; (2) Excellent adsorption performance, and easy molecular enrichment; (3) Efficient molecular immobilization.	(1) The electric conductivity is poor; (2) Poor stability in solvents.	(Furukawa et al., 2010; Wei, 2013; Zhou et al., 2020)