Novel strategies to tailor the photocatalytic activity of metal–organic frameworks for hydrogen generation: a mini-review

Abstract

This review provides a recompilation of the most important and recent strategies employed to increase the efficiency of metal–organic framework (MOF)-based systems toward the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) reaction through specific strategies: tailoring the photocatalytic activity of bare MOFs and guest@MOF composites, formation of heterojunctions based on MOFs and various photocatalysts, and inorganic photocatalysts derived from MOFs. According to the data reported in this mini-review, the most effective strategy to improve the PHE of MOFs relies on modifying the linkers with new secondary building units (SBUs). Although several reviews have investigated the photocatalytic activity of MOFs from a general point of view, many of these studies relate this activity to the physicochemical and catalytic properties of MOFs. However, they did not consider the interactions between the components of the photocatalytic material. This study highlights the effects of strength of the supramolecular interactions on the photocatalytic performance of bare and MOF-based materials during PHE. A thorough review and comparison of the results established that metal–nanoparticle@MOF composites have weak van der Waals forces between components, whereas heterostructures only interact with MOFs at the surface of bare materials. Regarding material derivatives from MOFs, we found that pyrolysis destroyed some beneficial properties of MOFs for PHE. Thus, we conclude that adding SBUs to organic linkers is the most efficient strategy to perform the PHE because the SBUs added to the MOFs promote synergy between the two materials through strong coordination bonds.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) / photocatalytic hydrogen evolution / MOF heterojunctions / materials derived from MOFs / bandgap / recombination

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by CONACYT through the following projects: Cátedras CONACYT—ID7708, CONACYT-FC-1725. Luis. A. Alfonso-Herrera thanks CONACYT for the M.C. scholarship 844207. UANL also supported this research through projects PAICYT CE1352-20 and PAICYT 601-CE-2022.

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