Heteroepitaxial MOF-on-MOF Photocatalyst for Solar-Driven Water Splitting.

Assembly of different metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) into hybrid MOF-on-MOF heterostructures has been established as a promising approach to develop synergistic performances for a variety of applications. Here, we explore the performance of a MOF-on-MOF heterostructure by epitaxial growth of MIL-88B(Fe) onto UiO-66(Zr)-NH nanoparticles. The face-selective design and appropriate energy band structure alignment of the selected MOF constituents have permitted its application as an active heterogeneous photocatalyst for solar-driven water splitting.

A zero-valent palladium cluster-organic framework.

Acquiring spatial control of nanoscopic metal clusters is central to their function as efficient multi-electron catalysts. However, dispersing metal clusters on surfaces or in porous hosts is accompanied by an intrinsic heterogeneity that hampers detailed understanding of the chemical structure and its relation to reactivities. Tethering pre-assembled molecular metal clusters into polymeric, crystalline 2D or 3D networks constitutes an unproven approach to realizing ordered arrays of chemically well-defined metal clusters.

Alternative protein encapsulation with MOFs: overcoming the elusive mineralization of HKUST-1 in water.

Protein encapsulation by formation of MOFs is a valuable strategy to immobilise and protect these bioentities. However the required biocompatible conditions limits the scope of MOFs under investigation, particularly in the case of hydrolytically unstable MOFs such as HKUST-1. We report alternative synthetic procedures to obtain protein@HKUST-1 biocomposites from related Cu-BTC dense biocomposites.

ZIF-8 encapsulation improves the antifungal activity of benzaldehyde and methyl anthranilate in films.

In this work, two ZIF-8-based biocomposites were obtained by entrapping the biomolecules benzaldehyde and methyl anthranilate direct impregnation with fast encapsulation kinetics and high molecule payloads were achieved. The obtained biocomposites exhibit an enhanced antifungal activity against after integration in biopolymeric zein films in comparison with the action of free molecules, making these biomaterials promising candidates for food preservation and packaging applications.

Hierarchical mesoporous NanoMUV-2 for the selective delivery of macromolecular drugs.

Although Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have received attention as drug delivery systems, their application in the delivery of macromolecules is limited by their pore size and opening. Herein, we present the synthesis of nanostructured MUV-2, a hierarchical mesoporous iron-based MOF that can store high payloads of the macromolecular drug paclitaxel ( 23% w/w), increasing its selectivity towards HeLa cancer cells over HEK non-cancerous cells. Moreover, this NanoMUV-2 permits full degradation under simulated physiological conditions while maintaining biocompatibility, and is amenable to specific surface modifications that increase its cell permeation, efficient cytosol delivery and cancer-targeting effect, further intensifying the cancer selectivity of paclitaxel.