Atomically precise metal nanoclusters meet metal-organic frameworks

Significant progress has been made in both fields of atomically precise metal nanoclusters (NCs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in recent years. A promising direction is to integrate these two classes of materials for creating unique composites with improved properties for catalysis and other applications. NCs incorporated with MOFs exhibit an optimized catalytic performance in many catalytic reactions, in which MOFs play a vital supporting role or as cocatalysts. In this Perspective, we first provide a brief summary of the methods that have been developed for the preparation of NCs/MOF composites and the characteristics of these strategies are analyzed. Following that, some recent works are highlighted to demonstrate the crucial role of MOF matrices in the enhancement of NCs catalytic properties. Finally, we outline some potentially important aspects for future work. This Perspective is in hopes of stimulating more interest in the research on the integration of NCs with MOFs toward functional materials.