A Decade of UiO-66 Research: A Historic Review of Dynamic Structure, Synthesis Mechanisms, and Characterization Techniques of an Archetypal Metal–Organic Framework

UiO-66 is an archetypal metal–organic framework (MOF) with a very high surface area as well as high thermal stability. It is found that the stability can be attributed to the metal oxide node being cuboctahedral allowing for 12 extension points for 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (BDC) coordination. Because of this and its exceptional tunability and functionality, which are largely due to defect control of both missing-cluster and missing-linker defects, UiO-66 has gained scientific popularity. The combination of these characteristics allows for a highly versatile material that can be adapted to many different applications. The purpose for this work is to provide a historic overview of UiO-66, outlining the major developments that changed the synthesis strategies of Zr-based MOF as well as current and future works, which include defect control, aqueous crystallization, functionality-stability trade-offs, and advanced topographies. A breakdown of the various UiO-66 structures, including isoreticular and reo-type, and different characterization techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and nitrogen porosimetry are discussed as well.