Recent advances and challenges of metal-organic frameworks for CO₂ capture

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions resulting from extensive fossil fuel consumption have become an increasingly critical global challenge, underscoring the importance of carbon capture and separation technologies. As emerging porous materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit remarkable potential for CO₂ capture due to their unique structures and tunable properties. Current MOF-based CO₂ capture methods have been broadly categorized into two major mechanisms: chemisorption and physisorption. By precisely tailoring MOF pore size and shape, creating unsaturated metal sites, and introducing functional groups, researchers significantly boost CO₂ capture efficiency. This Frontier article discussed these two mechanisms and highlighted the latest advances in MOF-based CO₂ capture, offering valuable guidelines for the development of novel MOF-related technologies.