New Dimensions of Flexible MOFs: Toward Complex Systems and Devices

Abstract

The diverse structural features of flexible metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) endow them with very attractive functions for diverse applications, resulting in significant progress after the intensive practice of the chemistry of flexible MOFs. In particular, flexible MOFs exhibit adaptive structural dynamics upon exposure to external stimuli, ranging from chemical species to gas pressures, temperatures and light or electric fields, whilst retaining the connectivity and unity of their frameworks. In this chapter, we focus on the major developments of flexible MOFs for adsorption-based guest storage and separation, chemical sensing, catalytic conversion, proton conduction, heat management, and other emerging functions arising from structural dynamics, highlighting the dimensions of applying flexible MOFs in this very important field.