Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are among the most widely studied solid-state materials in modern chemistry. Most synthesis and characterization studies on MOFs have been performed by inorganic chemists. Although the field has reached a reasonable level of maturity over the last ~20 years, there are still subtleties to the synthesis, modification, and characterization of MOFs that may elude the non-expert. This puts physical chemists, materials scientists, and others outside of the core inorganic discipline at a disadvantage when trying to study MOFs. A collection of JoVE video articles will help researchers, especially those outside the core inorganic chemistry discipline, obtain better access to MOFs and their proper characterization, to help enable their own innovative studies. This is critical, as many of the most important investigations of MOFs are presently focused on their applications, and hence access to these materials by a broader scientific community will be very valuable. 

This Topical Collection on MOFs would nominally include visualized experiments on the synthesis of MOFs (using different methods), the post-synthetic modification of MOFs, the formation of MOF composites (with polymers, biomolecules), and the characterization of MOFs using some of the most important methods such as gas sorption (e.g., surface area and pore size distributions), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and electron microscopy (e.g., SEM and TEM). In sum, the collection would endeavor to provide detailed procedures for many of the most important synthesis and characterization methods to enable scientists to prepare and study their own, high-quality MOF materials.