Preparation and applications of monolithic structures containing metal-organic frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks are a new category of advanced porous materials with large surface areas and porosities, uniform pore sizes, tunable surface chemistry, and structural diversity. In combination with monoliths, they allow the fine tuning of desired interactions required in a variety of applications. This review article summarizes results of recent studies focused on synthetic strategies enabling incorporation of metal-organic frameworks in monolithic structures. A diverse array of applications including chromatographic separation, solid-phase microextraction, sample enrichment, heterogeneous catalysis, and enzymatic catalysis are also described.