To
address the serious threat of bacterial infection to public
health, great efforts have been devoted to the development of antimicrobial
agents for inhibiting bacterial growth, preventing biofilm formation,
and sterilization. Very recently, metal–organic frameworks
(MOFs) have emerged as promising materials for various antimicrobial
applications owing to their different functions including the controlled/stimulated
decomposition of components with bactericidal activity, strong interactions
with bacterial membranes, and formation of photogenerated reactive
oxygen species (ROS) as well as high loading and sustained releasing
capacities for other antimicrobial materials. This review focuses
on recent advances in the design, synthesis, and antimicrobial applications
of MOF-based materials, which are classified by their roles as component-releasing
(metal ions, ligands, or both), photocatalytic, and chelation antimicrobial
agents as well as carriers or/and synergistic antimicrobial agents
of other functional materials (antibiotics, enzymes, metals/metal
oxides, carbon materials, etc.). The constituents,
fundamental antimicrobial mechanisms, and evaluation of antimicrobial
activities of these materials are highlighted to present the design
principles of efficient MOF-based antimicrobial materials. The prospects
and challenges in this research field are proposed.