Zinc-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks in Antibiotics Mitigation: From Detection to Decontamination

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline hybrid materials employed for various applications, starting from energy sectors and environmental remediation to catalysis. The designability, tunability, and robustness are key attributes of MOFs, making them materials of high pursuit. The detection and removal of antibiotics are of prime importance in the area of environmental remediation, where MOFs are increasingly utilized effectively. Antibiotic detection is vastly investigated using fluorescent MOFs, and the fluorescent behavior of MOFs originates from the linker, metal ions, or both. Fluorescent MOFs can be synthesized by systematic design and critical linkers and metal ions selection. In addition, their fluorescence attributes can be fine-tuned by encapsulating various guest molecules within MOFs. On the other hand, the reduction of antibiotics via physical adsorption and photocatalytic degradation by using MOFs is another promising application to remediate wastewater and eliminate bacterial antibiotic resistance. Compiling state-of-the-art progress and providing rational insights on detecting and removing antibiotics using Zn-MOFs are of paramount interest in advancing this field. The recent advances of Zn-based MOFs for detecting and removing antibiotics are emphasized. Additionally, future aspects, shortcomings, and scope for improvement in the detection and removal performance of Zn-based MOFs are discussed.