Academic News
A research team led by Professor Shieh Fa-Kuen from the Department of Chemistry at National Central University has pioneered a solid-state crystallization in aqueous phase (SSC) strategy that enables the formation of robust zirconium-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) under near-ambient, water-based conditions. This breakthrough allows enzymes to be safely encapsulated during the crystallization process, achieving the long-standing goal of protecting active biomolecules under truly mild synthesis conditions. The team’s findings were selected as a cover story in the flagship chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie. Additionally, this work is dedicated to the memory of a dear friend, an outstanding collaborator of the BioMOF team in Taiwan, Prof. Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung, who passed away from COVID-19 in Boston on January 5, 2021.
Professor Shieh’s team pioneered a mild, one-pot, water-based synthesis that preserves enzyme activity for industrial catalysis and drug delivery. His group also established the field of MOF Chemical Biology, which focuses on encapsulating biomolecules within MOFs while maintaining their native function.
However, synthesizing highly stable zirconium-based MOFs had long been a major challenge. To overcome this obstacle, Professor Shieh collaborated with Professor Tsai Hui-Hsu and Professor Chou Lien-Yang of ShanghaiTech University, and together they developed the solid-state crystallization (SSC) strategy, successfully addressing this long-standing problem.
This technique enables the formation of durable zirconium-based MOFs in near-room-temperature aqueous solutions while firmly encapsulating enzymes within the tough MOF structure. It paves a new path for biomedical applications, advances the practical use of efficient biocatalysts, and offers promising potential for expansion into green-technology domains such as rare-earth recycling.
