Metal–organic
frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of
porous materials composed of organic linkers and metal centers/clusters.
The integration of MOFs onto the solid surface as thin films/coatings
has spurred great interest, thanks to leveraging control over their
morphology (such as size- and shape-regulated crystals) and orientation,
flexible processability, and easy recyclability. These aspects, in
synergy, promise a wide range of applications, including but not limited
to gas/liquid separations, chemical sensing, and electronics. Dozens
of innovative methods have been developed to manipulate MOFs on various
solid substrates for academic studies and potential industrial applications.
Among the developed deposition methods, the liquid-phase epitaxial
layer-by-layer (LPE-LbL) method has demonstrated its merits over precise
control of the thickness, roughness, homogeneity, and orientations,
among others. Herein, we discuss the major developments of surface-mounted
MOFs (SURMOFs) in LbL process optimization, summarizing the SURMOFs’
performance in different applications, and put forward our perspective
on the future of SURMOFs in terms of advances in the formulation,
applications, and challenges. Finally, future prospects and challenges
with respect to SURMOFs growth will be discussed, keeping the focus
on their widening applications.