Metal-organic framework-based wearable electrochemical glucose sensors for sweat analysis: materials design, sensing...

The global prevalence of diabetes mellitus has intensified the demand for continuous, reliable, and patient-friendly glucose monitoring technologies. Conventional blood-based glucose testing remains invasive and unsuitable for continuous monitoring, motivating extensive research into non-invasive wearable sensing platforms. Sweat has emerged as an attractive biofluid for glucose monitoring due to its accessibility and compatibility with skin-interfaced devices; however, the low glucose concentration, complex matrix, and dynamic secretion rates pose significant analytical challenges. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of crystalline porous materials constructed from metal nodes and organic linkers, offer unique opportunities to address these challenges owing to their exceptionally high surface areas, tunable pore architectures, and versatile chemical functionalities. Recently, MOF-based electrochemical glucose sensors have shown considerable promise, particularly when integrated into flexible and wearable systems for sweat analysis. This review critically examines recent advances in MOF-enabled wearable electrochemical glucose sensors, with emphasis on material design principles, enzymatic and non-enzymatic sensing mechanisms, device integration strategies, and key performance metrics. Current limitations related to conductivity, stability, biofouling, and physiological variability are discussed, along with emerging strategies to overcome these barriers. Finally, this review outlines future directions toward intelligent, clinically relevant MOF-based wearable glucose monitoring systems.