Recent advances in Metal-Organic Framework-Based fiber optic sensors and Photodetectors: Synthesis, Properties, and applications

Abstract

• In-Depth Analysis of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs): Provides a comprehensive overview of MOFs, emphasizing their 2D crystalline structures, large surface areas, and hybrid organic–inorganic compositions, which are key for optical sensing. • Advancements in MOF-Based Fiber Optic Sensors: Highlights recent breakthroughs in applying MOFs to fiber optic sensors, focusing on how MOFs enhance sensitivity, selectivity, and stability in fiber optic-based sensing applications. • Synthesis Techniques and Material Properties: Discusses advanced synthesis methods, such as solvothermal, microwave-assisted, and mechanochemical approaches, which optimize MOFs for tailored pore sizes, chemical tunability, and mechanical stability, critical for efficient sensor performance. • Innovative Applications in Environmental and Biomedical Sensing: Explores practical applications of MOF-coated fiber optic sensors in environmental monitoring, chemical detection, and biomedical fields, showcasing their high sensitivity and selective detection capabilities. • Challenges and Future Directions in MOF-Based Sensing Technologies: Concludes with an exploration of existing challenges and potential future research, aiming to inspire further development of MOF-based fiber optic sensors and photodetectors. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a type of material, consisting of an organic linker and an inorganic metal ion or cluster, that can form highly ordered crystalline structures when combined with organic additives. There are a number of features that are unique to these materials, including their unique hybrid structure, which enables them to have remarkably high surface areas, tunable pore sizes, and personalized functionalities. Several of these characteristics make MOFs particularly attractive for a wide range of applications such as selective gas absorption, sensors, photodetectors etc. As a result, MOFs are being integrated into fiber optic sensors and photodetectors to enable new advances. The focus of the review is on the use of sensors for the monitoring of environmental conditions that require high sensitivity, selectivity, and adaptability. In this review, the authors provide an in-depth examination of the synthesis processes of MOFsfor fiber optic sensors and photodetectors, focusing particularly on how these processes affect the structural properties of the MOFs themselves. In order to meet the specific demands of diverse sensor and photodetector applications, the synthesis strategies discussed in this article are critical to tailoring the materials in order to meet their individual characteristics. As well as examining the key properties of MOFs that contribute to their success in sensing applications, the review also examines the factors that contribute to their performance, such as their porous structure, their ability to be tuned in terms of pore size, and their chemical and mechanical stability. A MOF’s biocompatibility and reproducibility are essential for potential applications in biomedical and environmental monitoring, and these properties ensure that MOFs perform optimally under a variety of conditions. In addition, we briefly discuss the different application aspects of MOFs for industrial sensing applications as they have the capability to operate in harsh environments, providing valuable insight into process control, and process safety. The MOF-based fiber optic technologies have made tremendous strides in recent years, but there are a number of challenges such as long-term stability, reproducibile synthesis, scalability and cost effective integration must be overcome for their full potential to be realized. In spite of these challenges, MOFs based sensors and photodetectors are poised to become essential tools for a range of applications as synthesis methods, material stability, and device integration improve. It provides insight into MOFs’ current capabilities and future prospects for innovative sensing solutions for researchers and engineers working on MOF-based technologies.

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