Emerging microporous materials as novel templates for quantum dots

Abstract

Microporous structures have attracted significant attention in recent years. In particular, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have received considerable attention due to their tailorable structures that offer a wide range of choices in terms of molecular building blocks. Due to their high tunability, these materials are considered as ideal host matrices for templating and encapsulating guest materials, particularly quantum dots (QDs). QDs are investigated heavily for various applications such as light-emitting diodes (LED), biosensors, catalysts, and solar cells due to their unique properties from the quantum confinement effect. However, one of the drawbacks of QDs is their tendency to aggregate and exhibit low stability due to their small size and kinetic trapping in nanoparticle form. This perspective highlights promising approaches to enhance the performance and stability of QDs by using microporous materials as an encapsulation layer. Additionally, potential mitigating strategies are discussed to overcome current challenges and improve the practicality of QDs embedded in microporous nanocomposites.