Device fabrication and sensing mechanism in metal-organic framework-based chemical sensors

The increasing attention to environmental quality, food safety, and medical diagnosis requires miniaturized chemical sensors with high sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and low power consumption. Innovations in sensory materials promise to empower new generations of chemical sensor technologies. Porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), formed from organic linkers and metal nodes, offer advantages in sensitive and selective analyte recognition through precisely tuned pore environments and molecular sieving. The promising properties promote research on implementing MOFs as an integral part of chemical sensors. This review highlights the integration of MOFs into chemical sensors, including thin-film deposition and patterning methods, signal transductions, typical sensor architectures, and device fabrications. We also discuss the sensing mechanisms in connection to the sensing performances, such as adsorption/diffusion in MOFs and MOF-analyte interactions. Critical directions for future research are proposed to stimulate the next steps to realize the practical application of MOF-based chemical sensors.