MOFs head to market

Research into metal–organic frameworks – better known as MOFs – has gathered momentum, thanks to potential applications which could impact several aspects of our lives in the near future. From how we power our vehicles to the way medicines are delivered into our bodies, MOFs could spell big changes, but only if they are deemed commercially viable.

MOFs are structures with metal clusters or nodes at their corners pulled together into a three-dimensional honeycomb material by organic links. For them to be classed as MOFs, the structures need to have some cavities, says Omar Farha at Northwestern University in Evanston, US. The result is a material that is highly porous, and it is these pores that give MOFs their sought after properties. ‘These materials have some of the highest surface areas you can get – thousands of square metres per gram,’ explains Russell Morris from the University of St Andrews, UK. ‘A gram of material that fits into the palm of a hand can have as much internal surface area in the pores as a football field and it’s on this internal surface area that things can happen.’

The most porous manmade materials, metal–organic frameworks, are pushing towards commercialisation. Elinor Hughes tracks their progress from early research into the materials, use as gas storage and their use inside the body, to the search for funds to develop these further.