Photosensitive titanium and zirconium Metal Organic Frameworks: Current research and future possibilities

The sustainable production and storage of energy is one of the most important scientific and technological challenges to ensure the energy availability for the near future. For that matter, light-driven photochemical reactions, such as water splitting and CO2 reduction with water, can transform sunlight energy into chemical energy. Designing an efficient porous organic/inorganic hybrid material (known as Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)) that features molecular functional components for light harvesting and catalysis can address the challenges of the field and create a technological breakthrough to convert sunlight into solar fuels. The latest achievements in MOFs for artificial photosynthesis and photocatalysis are presented with emphasis on bulk MOFs and thin film MOFs deposition. This review is focused on robust Zr and Ti MOFs for water splitting reactions and CO2 reduction, which are the most promising materials for this purpose. New directions are evaluated and the challenges for photocatalytic MOF are also discussed. •Latest achievements in MOFs for photo-catalysis are presented.•The article is focus on bulk MOFs and on thin film MOFs deposition.•Multifunctional Ti and Zr MOFS.•Water splitting reaction and CO2 reduction are discussed.