Scale-up of metal-organic frameworks production: Engineering strategies and prospects towards sustainable manufacturing

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an interesting class of porous materials with unique physico-chemical properties, including permanent porosity, high surface area, and structural flexibility. These properties open doors to new opportunities for industries to solve existing challenges and create new businesses. Although innovations in MOFs have advanced from laboratory to engineering and applications, MOF commercialization is still in a growing stage and is greatly impeded by limitations associated with their mass productivity and properties. This review focuses on strategies explored for large-scale production of MOFs and their challenges by analysing each technique based on (i) yield (ii) properties (iii)) processability and (iv) economic and sustainability aspects. Comparison between the different strategies and future challenges along with the current state of MOF industries and their production strategies are also discussed to bridge the gap between research and industry directions toward large-scale production routes of MOFs.