Due to the fascinating properties such as high porosity,
large
surface areas, and tunable chemical components, metal–organic
frameworks (MOFs) have emerged in many fields including catalysis,
energy storage, and gas separation. However, the intrinsic electrical
insulation of MOFs severely restricts their application in electrochemistry.
Here, we synthesize a series of 2D conductive MOFs (cMOFs) through
tuning the structure with atomic precision using simple hydrothermal
methods. Various electroactive probes are used to reveal the structure–property
relationships in 2D cMOFs. Then, we demonstrate the first exploration
and implementation of 2D cMOFs toward the construction of electrochemical
biosensors. In particular, the biosensor based on Cu3(tetrahydroxy-1,4-quinone)2 [Cu3(THQ)2] displays a remarkably improved
electrocatalytic performance at a much lower potential. The mechanism
study reveals the essential role of charge-transfer interactions between
the dense catalytic sites of Cu3(THQ)2 and analytes.
Furthermore, the Cu3(THQ)2-based biosensor demonstrates
robust anti-interference capability, good stability, fast response
speed, and an ultralow detection limit for paraoxon. These promising
results indicate the great potential of cMOFs in biomedical, food
safety, and environmental sensing applications.