Functionalized MOF-polymer composites: a new Frontier in chemistry for global health

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a versatile class of porous crystalline materials owing to their exceptionally high surface area, tunable pore architectures, and modular chemical functionality. Despite these advantages, the practical implementation of pristine MOFs in global health-related applications is often constrained by limited physicochemical stability, poor mechanical robustness, and challenges in processability. The integration of functionalized MOFs with polymeric matrices has opened new avenues for overcoming these limitations, yielding hybrid composites with enhanced stability, biocompatibility, flexibility, and multifunctionality. Functionalized MOF-polymer composites combine the structural precision and adsorption capacity of MOFs with the adaptable mechanical and chemical properties of polymers, enabling the design of advanced materials tailored for pressing healthcare and environmental challenges. This review highlights recent advances in the rational design, synthesis, and functionalization strategies of MOF-polymer composites, with emphasis on their emerging roles in drug delivery, antimicrobial therapies, biosensing, diagnostics, water purification, and pollutant remediation. Particular attention is given to surface engineering approaches, polymer integration techniques, and interface optimization that improve performance under biologically and environmentally relevant conditions. Additionally, the review discusses current challenges related to scalability, long-term stability, biosafety, and regulatory translation, while identifying future opportunities for smart, sustainable, and accessible technologies. By bridging materials chemistry with biomedical and environmental innovation, functionalized MOF-polymer composites represent a transformative frontier in chemistry for global health, offering promising solutions to interconnected issues such as infectious disease control, clean water access, and sustainable healthcare technologies. This review aims to provide a concise perspective on the potential of these hybrid materials to address critical global health priorities and inspire future interdisciplinary research.