In recent years, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)
have been
wildly studied as heterogeneous catalysts due to their diversity of
structures and outstanding physical and chemical properties. Meanwhile,
MOFs have also been regarded as promising templates for the synthesis
of conductive and electrochemically active catalysts. However, in
most of the studies, high-temperature annealing is needed to transform
nonconductive or low-conductive MOFs to conductive materials for electrocatalyis,
during which the unique structures and intrinsic active sites in MOFs
can be easily destroyed. Therefore, in recent years, different strategies
have been developed for improving the catalytic performances of MOF-based
composites for electrochemical reactions with no need of post-treatment.
This mini-review highlights the recent advances on MOF-based structures
with improved conductivities and electrochemical activities for the
application in electrocatalysis. Overall, the advanced MOF-based electrocatalysts
include the highly conductive and electrochemically active pristine
MOFs, MOFs combined with conductive substrates, and MOFs hybridized
with active materials. Finally, we propose the direction for future
works on MOF-based electrocatalysts.