Advances in Biosensing of Chemical Food Contaminants Based on the MOFs-Graphene Nanohybrids

Food safety issue is becoming an international challenge for human health owing to the presence of contaminants. In this context, reliable, rapid, and sensitive detecting technology is extremely demanded to establish food safety assurance systems. MOFs (Metal-organic frameworks) are a new type of porous crystalline material with particular physical and chemical characteristics presented in food safety requirements. (Bio)sensors driven MOF materials have emerged as a promising alternative and complementary analytical techniques, owing to their great specific area, high porosity, and uniform and fine-tunable pore buildings. Nevertheless, the insufficient stability and electrical conductivity of classical MOFs limit their utilization. Employing graphene-derived nanomaterials with high functional elements as patterns for the MOF materials not only improves the structural instability and poor conductivity but also impedes the restacking and aggregation between graphene layers, thus significantly extending the MOFs application. A review of MOFs-graphene-based material used in food contamination detection is urgently needed for encouraging the advance of this field. Herein, this paper systematically outlines current breakthroughs in MOF-graphene-based nanoprobes, outlines their principles, and illustrates their employments in identifying mycotoxins, heavy metal ions, pathogens, antibiotics, and pesticides, referring to their multiplexing and sensitivity ability. The challenges and limitations of applying MOF-graphene composite for precise and efficient assessment of food were also debated. This paper would maybe offer some inspired concepts for an upcoming study on MOF-based composites in the food security context.