Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are one of the widely investigated materials of 21 st century due to their unique properties such as structural tailorability, controlled porosity, and crystallinity. These exceptional properties make them promising candidates for various applications including gas adsorption and storage, separation, and catalysis. However, commercial applications of MOFs produced by conventional methods including solvothermal or hydrothermal synthesis are rather limited or restricted because they often produce fine powders. The use of MOF powders for industrial applications often results in pressure drop problems similar to the case with Zeolites and limited robustness against water. To realize these materials for practical applications, densification of MOFs (by increasing pellet density) is routinely employed to form pellets, extrudates or beads to improve the overall density, volumetric adsorption, mechanical and thermal properties. However, the improvements come with some drawbacks such as reduction in overall porosity, surface area, and gravimetric adsorption capacity. Thus, optimizing the properties of densified MOF's by tuning the pellet density is very crucial for realizing these materials for industrial applications. Methods that increase the packing density in MOFs (for example by intentional interpenetration etc.,), which is different from pellet density, is not the scope of this review. In this review, the properties and applications of densified MOFs with different metal clusters and organic linkers are discussed.

We present a new methodology for generating a stepwise concentration gradient in a series of microdroplets by using monolithic micro valves that act as "faucets" in micrometer-scale. A distinct concentration gradient of a substrate was generated for the determination of the kinetic parameters of two different enzymes using only 10 picoliter-scale droplets. With a single experiment on a chip, we obtained K(M) and k(cat) values of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), and compared the catalytic competence of the two enzymes. The present system and method are highly suitable for applications where the reagents or samples are limited and precious.

We describe a microfluidic device for generating non-linear (exponential and sigmoidal) concentration gradients, coupled with a microwell array for cell storage and analysis. The device has two inputs for co-flowing multiple aqueous solutions, a main co-flow channel and an asymmetrical grid of fluidic channels that allows the two solutions to combine at intersection points without fully mixing. Due to this asymmetry and diffusion of the two species in the co-flow channel, varying amounts of the two solutions enter each fluidic path. This induces exponential and sigmoidal concentration gradients at low and high flow rates, respectively, making the microfluidic device versatile. A key feature of this design is that it is space-saving, as it does not require multiplexing or a separate array of mixing channels. Furthermore, the gradient structure can be utilized in concert with cell experiments, to expose cells captured in microwells to various concentrations of soluble factors. We demonstrate the utility of this design to assess the viability of fibroblast cells in response to a range of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) concentrations.

We have demonstrated a multistep enzyme reaction on a chip to determine the key kinetic parameters of enzyme reaction. We designed and fabricated a fully integrated microfluidic chip to have sample metering, mixing, and incubation functionalities. The chip generates a gradient of reagent concentrations in 11 parallel processors. We used β-galactosidase and its substrate, resorufin-β-d-galactopyranoside, as the model system of the enzyme reaction. With a single experiment on the chip, we determined the key parameters for the enzyme kinetics, K m and k cat, and evaluated the effect of inhibitor concentrations on the reaction rates. This study provides a new tool for evaluating various effectors, such as inhibitors and cofactors, on the initial rate of an enzyme reaction, and it could be applied to a comprehensive bio/chemical reaction study.