Recent advances in controlled modification of the size and morphology of metal-organic frameworks

Advances in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) resulted in significant contributions to diverse applications such as carbon capture, gas storage, heat transformation and separation along with emerging applications toward catalysis, medical imaging, drug delivery, and sensing. The unique in situ and ex situ structural features of MOFs can be tailored by conceptual selection of the organic (e.g., ligand) and inorganic (e.g., metal) components. Here, we provide a comprehensive review on the synthesis and characterization of MOFs, particularly with respect to controlling their size and morphology. A better understanding of the specific size and morphological parameters of MOFs will help initiate a new era for their real-world applications. Most importantly, this assessment will help develop novel synthesis methods for MOFs and their hybrid/porous materials counterparts with considerably improved properties in targeted applications.