Recent advances in enzyme immobilization techniques: Metal-organic frameworks as novel substrates

• Enzyme immobilization on MOFs is still at an early stage of development.
• The use of porous MOFs can increase enzyme loading capacity and catalytic efficiency.
• Different approaches for developing MOF-based biocatalytic platforms are evaluated.
• Limitations associated with the fabrication of enzyme-MOF platforms are described.
• There will be great demand on multi-enzyme–MOF platform with diverse functionality.
• Scale-up processes and product purification are major goals for future research.

In the past few years, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have drawn increasing research interest as bio-immobilization support materials. The unique properties of MOFs, including tunable porosity, desirable functionality, extremely high surface area, and chemical/thermal stability, have motivated a considerable interest in exploiting them as a potential matrix for enzyme immobilization. Improvements in the biocatalyst efficiency, promising recyclability, enhanced accessibility to active sites, and a high loading capacity are the main features of the novel MOF–enzyme supports. This review aims to cover the recent progress in the application of MOFs as enzyme immobilization supports. We discuss different approaches used in the development of MOF–enzyme biocatalytic supports, such as surface adsorption, diffusion, and in-situ encapsulation. The trends in current developments and the significance of each strategy are critically reviewed in this paper.