Bridging porosity and performance: design rules for industrially viable metal organic frameworks in CO₂ capture

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown immense potential for carbon capture, yet a gap remains between their structural promise and practical performance. Traditional focus on equilibrium thermodynamics and energy efficiency often overlooks critical process-relevant metrics such as productivity, kinetics, capital cost, and long-term economic viability. Here, we present a material-process co-development framework guided by five process-informed design rules: (1) Productivity and Kinetics, (2) Mechanistic Stability, (3) Scalability, (4) Energy Efficiency, and (5) Economic Viability. This framework integrates molecular design, contactor engineering, process simulation, and techno-economic analysis to evaluate MOFs under realistic cyclic operation, humid feeds, and operational constraints. Benchmark materials (e.g., CALF-20, Mg-MOF-74, CPO-27-Ni, UiO-66, UTSA-16 are assessed across post-combustion, pre-combustion, and DAC applications, highlighting that no single MOF currently satisfies all industrial criteria without trade-offs. By considering application-specific compromises and employing multi-objective optimization, Pareto-optimal material-process configurations can be identified. Recent advances in humid DAC, novel structuring techniques (3D printing, fibers, aerogels), and hybrid process strategies such as Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA) , Electrical Swing Adsorption (ESA), Vacuum Swing Adsorption (VSA), Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA), Temperature-Vacuum Swing Adsorption (TVSA) are reviewed, steam-assisted cycles alongside integrated Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies. This review provides a strategic roadmap for MOF development from laboratory testing to market deployment, emphasizing standardized evaluation, co-optimization of materials and processes, and economic feasibility