Ce-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks as Multifunctional Platforms for Advanced Photoactive Material

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as versatile materials for designing functional nanostructures due to their tunable porosity, high surface area, and controllable physicochemical properties. Among them, cerium-based MOFs are particularly attractive because of the reversible Ce³⁺/Ce⁴⁺ redox couple, which enhances charge separation and photocatalytic activity. In this work, Ce-UiO-66-derived materials were engineered through the incorporation of TiO₂, metallic nanoparticles, and other functional nanostructures to improve light harvesting, charge transfer, and catalytic performance. Advanced characterization techniques, including diffraction, spectroscopy, microscopy, thermal analysis, and synchrotron methods, were employed to correlate synthesis conditions with structural, morphological, and photoactive properties. The resulting materials exhibited tunable optical behavior, reduced band-gap energies, and enhanced performance under solar irradiation, showing potential for environmental remediation and CO₂ photoreduction. These findings demonstrate that functionalized Ce-based MOFs are promising platforms for developing advanced photoactive materials for sustainable energy conversion and environmental applications.