MOF-based spectrophotometric sensors for cholesterol detection: current trends and challenges

Cholesterol detection is essential for early diagnosis and monitoring of cholesterol-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia, and liver diseases. A variety of nanomaterials have been designed and synthesized for cholesterol detection via electrochemical and spectrophotometric techniques. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising detector materials for cholesterol sensing. Recent research explores MOFs as spectrophotometric cholesterol sensors with remarkable performance in terms of limit of detection and selectivity. Given the growing interest in cholesterol sensing, and limited reviews on recent advances in the field, this review critically examines recent advances in MOF-based spectrophotometric cholesterol sensors, outlining the different mechanistic roles of MOFs in cholesterol detection. The review also highlights significant improvements, current challenges, and potential applications of MOF-based sensors for cholesterol detection in point-of-care devices and medical diagnostics.