Incorporated Metal–Organic Framework Hybrid Materials for Gas Separation, Catalysis and Wastewater Treatment

The special features of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), namely, tunable porosity, exceptional structure, high surface area and high adsorption capability enable them to be widely studied in many applications including carbon capture and storage (CCS), biomedical engineering, catalysis and pollutant treatment. Despite these remarkable properties, MOFs are known to be moisture-sensitive, hardly recyclable and expensive in fabrication cost which limits their breakthrough performance in more efficient uses. Recently, extensive studies have been devoted to counter those shortcomings by embedding MOFs with support materials using various series of synthetic designs to yield incorporated MOF hybrid materials to counter their limitations. In view of this interest, this review summarizes the latest developments of incorporated MOFs with various materials, namely, ionic liquids (ILs), membranes and metal species. Pre-synthetic and post-synthetic synthesis methods are also discussed. This review also aims to highlight the factors associated with incorporated MOF performance such as materials selection and mass ratio which could have favorable effects in gas separation, catalysis and wastewater treatment applications. The data indicate that incorporated MOF hybrid materials exhibit exceptional properties including excellent robustness and stability. Correspondingly, in comparison to pristine MOFs, incorporated MOF hybrid materials significantly improve, among others, the gas selectivity, catalyst activity and dye removal efficiency in gas separation, catalysis and wastewater treatment, respectively. In addition, the challenge related to the utilization of this newly incorporated material is mentioned.