Recent Trends in the Design, Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Covalent Organic Frameworks

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Dec 28;15(1):139. doi: 10.3390/polym15010139.

Abstract

The most recent and advanced class of crystalline and permeable compounds are covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Due to their exceptional qualities, such as their porous structure, high surface area, strong chemical and thermal stabilities, low density, good water stability, luminescent nature, and so on, COFs have seen remarkable growth over the past ten years. COFs have been successfully researched for a number of applications based on these characteristics. The current state of COFs has been reported in this study, with particular attention paid to their design, topology, synthesis, and a variety of biological applications, including drug delivery systems, photodynamic and photothermal therapy, biosensing, bioimaging, etc. Moreover, several miscellaneous applications, such as catalysis, gas storage and separation, photocatalysis, sensors, solar cells, supercapacitors, and 3D printers, have also been explored. It is significant that we have examined current research on COFs with a focus on the biological applications, which are infrequently covered in the literature. Descriptions of the difficulties and prospective outcomes have also been given.

Keywords: COF technology; applications; biomedical utility; synthesis.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

We thank the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi, for funding under ‘Early Carrier Research Grant’ (Project’s reference no. ECR/2018/001716).