The marriage of metal–organic frameworks and silica materials for advanced applications

The fabrication of novel porous materials remains of great interest because of their intriguing architectures, various properties, and promising applications. As typical porous materials with high crystallinity, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted continuous attention to the scientific community. However, poor stability and monotonous pore structures hinder their practical and/or advanced applications. To address these concerns, many researchers have devoted themselves to the topics of hierarchical structures and composites by the combination of different components. The present review focuses on the recent advances in MOF–silica composites, where the silica materials can be porous or nonporous. It first provides the fundamentals of porous materials, including zeolites, mesoporous silica, and MOFs, and then shifts to the fabrication of MOF–silica composites. In the following sections, the emphasis of the discussion is placed on the applications of MOF–silica composites, such as adsorption, catalysis, drug release, extraction, magnetism, and sensing. Furthermore, the applications of MOF–silica composites-derived carbon materials are also reviewed and discussed in detail. Finally, it summarizes the achievements of MOF–silica composites and gives an outlook on future research.