New trends in metal-organic framework membranes for biomedical applications

Metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes are constructed with various organic ligands and metal ions or clusters. Due to their high porosity, tunable chemical composition, and potential for subsequent synthetic modifications, they are widely used in biomedicine, especially in biosensing, bioimaging, and drug delivery. Although MOF membranes have found many applications in various fields, including biomedicine, there are still fundamental gaps in studies on various aspects of such membranes. This lack of interest in the study of MOF membranes is because most researchers prefer to use bulk or powder MOFs because of the problematic aspects of fabricating perfect and defect-free MOF-based membranes. Therefore, in this review, applications of MOF membranes in nanomedicine are presented, focusing on their functions ranging from drug delivery, therapeutic agents for various diseases, and imaging contrast agents. Applications of MOF membrane derivatives in nanomedicine will also be presented. Finally, the challenges and prospects for MOF membranes in future applications will be highlighted.