Hybridization of metal-organic frameworks and task-specific ionic liquids: Fundamentals and challenges

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and task-specific ionic liquids (TSILs) have been active as a high-profile class of versatile materials. However, there was no relatively close intersection between MOFs and TSILs until the concept of hybridization of MOFs and TSILs was proposed in the most recent years. At present, it has been well witnessed that the development of MOF and TSIL hybrid materials (MTHMs) is attracting significant attention. In this regard, it is high time to address the recent advances made in the fast-growing field of MTHMs and provide a critical assessment of this subject matter. In this review, as an originator of MTHMs, we have presented a logical and easy-to-follow story about the hybridization of MOFs and TSILs: from their origins, to the motivation behind hybridization, to a strategy to carry out the hybridization, and finally to the consequences of hybridization based on a few illustrative examples. Finally, the specific bottlenecks, challenges, and outlooks towards this subject matter have been proposed according to the state-of-the-art progress as well as our first-hand experiences and personal perspectives. Hopefully, the knowledge and learning points gained from this review will deepen the understanding of MTHMs and appeal to more multidisciplinary communities coming forward with their valuable contributions in the coming decades.