Engineering metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) based thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for molecular separation

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a novel class of hybrid materials constructed from metals ions/ions clusters and organic linkers. Owing to their well-defined porous structures and other interesting properties, MOFs and their derivatives/composites have shown unprecedented potentials as nanofillers in membranes for various separations. Recently, many encouraging results have been demonstrated in membrane permeability and selectivity when constructing thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes integrated with MOFs in the selective layer for gas and liquid separation. Although impressive progresses have been exhibited, significant challenges remain in lab-scale research. In addition, implementation barriers can be foreseen when commercializing these MOF incorporated TFN membranes. Therefore, we aim to highlight the recent efforts and advances for such challenges and barriers in this review as well as to assess the potential applications of these membranes for molecular separation. The mechanisms for the enhanced separation performance would be analysed, elucidated, and summarized to offer valuable insights for realizing optimal interface morphology and separation performance of MOF incorporated TFN membranes.