Metal-organic framework-derived nanomaterials in environment related fields: Fundamentals, properties and applications

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) derived nanomaterials have attracted widespread interest due to their unique properties. This article emphasizes the primary routines to improve the performance of MOF derivatives. Their environmental applications in particular for wastewater treatment, air purification and target-specific sensing are comprehensively summarized. In addition, the challenges and perspectives in future work are proposed. [Display omitted] •An overview of the primary strategies to improve the performance of MOF-derived nanomaterials.•General discussion on recent progress of environmental cleaning and monitoring over MOF-derived nanomaterials.•The challenges and prospects related to MOF-derived porous materials for environmental applications. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as a new class of crystalline porous materials, composing of metal nodes and organic linkers, have been extensively used as versatile precursors or sacrificial templates for the preparation of numerous nanomaterials. The advantages of these MOF-derived nanomaterials such as controllable composition, tunable structure and high porosity endow them with enormous potential in many areas, including catalysis, sensors, energy storage and conversion. Herein, MOF derivatives in environment related fields are highly emphasized. The fundamental properties and general background of these nanomaterials are summarized. The primary strategies involved in compositional manipulation, pre-synthetic modulation, morphology control and post-synthetic treatment to improve the performance of MOF-derived nanomaterials are highlighted. In addition, we systematically discuss their recent progress in environmental cleaning and monitoring, especially for the wastewater treatment, air purification and target-specific sensing. Finally, the challenges and prospects of MOF-derived nanomaterials are also proposed. This article gives a comprehensive overview of MOF-derived nanomaterials for environmental applications and is expected to shed light on the further study in this highly exciting area.