Copper-based metal organic frameworks for CO₂ capture: From fundamental mechanisms to practical applications

The continuous emission of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) remains a critical challenge to global environmental stability. Among the diverse strategies explored for CO₂ mitigation, adsorption-based technologies have attracted considerable attention owing to their potential for high treatment efficiency and cost-effectiveness. In this context, metal-organic frameworks, particularly copper-based variants (Cu-MOFs), have been extensively investigated for carbon capture and storage (CCS) applications. To date, thousands of MOF structures (including ZIFs, UiO-series, MIL-series, and PCN-series) have shown significant potential for effective CO₂ adsorption performance. Within this crowded landscape, Cu-MOFs stand out through a unique combination of high surface areas, abundant open metal sites, strong electrostatic interactions with CO₂, and cost-effectiveness arising from copper's natural abundance. Nevertheless, despite their clear potential, Cu-MOFs remain relatively underexplored compared to zirconium- or zinc-based analogues. Herein, the impact of various modification strategies on the CCS performance of Cu-MOFs is evaluated. These strategies include linker and topology engineering, defect engineering, chemical functional-group engineering, morphological and size control, heteroatom doping, bimetallic site engineering, and composite formation. This evaluation has been made based on key performance metrics, such as the partition coefficient and adsorption capacity. Furthermore, current challenges and future prospects pertaining to Cu-MOF-based materials are discussed, with particular emphasis on enhancing their scalability and processability under real-world conditions.