Low-cost, sustainable MOF composites: resource use and functional integration – a review

Metal–organic framework (MOF) composites enable adsorptive separations, catalysis, and delivery, but scale-up is constrained by costly metal precursors and complex coordination chemistry. This paper reviews sustainable, cost-effective routes that integrate MOFs with waste-derived inputs (industrial residues, post-consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate), biomass, and polymer matrices). These routes also improve feedstock valorisation and composite processability. This paper proposes a design logic – hierarchical utilisation → in situ composite formation → functional synergy – where wastes act as metal/ligand sources and processable supports. Distinct from prior sustainability- or waste-to-MOF reviews, this review introduces a role-based classification of waste inputs (precursor source, scaffold/support, functional additive) and couples it to a three-axis compatibility lens (feedstock–process–function), enabling more actionable cross-study comparison and scale-up-oriented decision making. Using in situ growth, selective metal-ion capture, and interface engineering can reduce raw-material and processing costs while improving stability, mass transfer, and multifunctionality, and it favours cross-waste co-utilisation and simpler workflows; representative case studies report ∼40%–60% reductions in precursor (bill-of-materials) cost, although these values are case-specific and not directly comparable across studies without harmonised system boundaries. Challenges remain in scale CAPEX/OPEX, durability under realistic conditions, and manufacturing throughput, motivating priorities for green scale-up, interfacial-mechanism elucidation, and scenario-driven demonstrations.