MOF Environmental Durability Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Are 2026
- Filings peaked in 2020 at 76 and have since flattened, with the 2022 midpoint at 57 — the field is past its filing surge, not building toward one.
- B01J and C07F dominate the IPC mix (467 and 332 records), while C07D heterocyclic chemistry sits at just 22 — a narrow slice relative to the core catalysis and organometallic classes.
- Every top assignee shows 0 filings in the latest year, a pattern consistent with publication lag rather than an actual pullback from the technology.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent families that combine metal-organic framework or porous coordination polymer chemistry with explicit claims to water stability, hydrothermal stability, chemical stability, or structural robustness. That combination matters because MOF adoption outside the lab has repeatedly stalled on moisture and chemical degradation — a framework with excellent gas uptake in dry conditions can collapse in humid air or aqueous process streams. The dataset spans 2015 through mid-2026, drawing on IPC classes for chemical/physical processes, separation, and organo-metallic compounds.
Filing activity concentrates in catalysis and separation-oriented claims (B01J, B01D) alongside organometallic composition claims (C07F), which together frame durability less as a standalone research topic and more as a qualifying property bolted onto applied MOF claims — gas capture, water harvesting, membrane separation. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the last one to two years in any filing trend will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be.
Filing trend and technology composition
Annual filing counts and IPC distribution for the 603 families identified in this search, with receiving-office spread showing where applicants are actually seeking protection.
A peak already behind the field
Filings rose from 37 in 2017 to a peak of 76 in 2020, held near that level through the 2022 midpoint of 57, and have since declined toward 11 in the most recent (partial) year. Treat the tail end as understated rather than as a genuine drop-off, given the 18-month lag between filing and publication.
Durability claims ride on applied chemistry, not on synthesis alone
B01J (467) and C07F (332) carry the bulk of the corpus, meaning most durability claims are attached to catalytic or organometallic composition work rather than filed as pure structural-stability studies. C02F water-treatment (62) and C08G condensation polymer (35) classes are comparatively thin, and C07D heterocyclic chemistry (22) is the smallest slice — each a candidate area to check before assuming a claim is blocked.
Shares are the percentage of the 603 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Metal-Organic Framework Environmental Durability with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about metal-organic framework environmental durability and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
Process for preparing metal organic frameworks having improved water stability
The filing describes a continuous process for producing a metal-organic framework that incorporates a hydrophobic compound, combining a metal-ion reactant and a ligand-bearing reactant with a hydrophobic component during framework formation. The approach targets water stability directly at the synthesis stage rather than through post-synthetic coating or modification.Filed by MOF Technologies Limited, published 2021-09-02.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20180171604A1 | Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting device | 133 |
| 2 | US20210016232A1 | Membranes comprising a layer of metal organic framework particles | 106 |
| 3 | WO2019175717A1 | Method for in-SITU synthesis of metal organic frameworks (MOFS), covalent organic frameworks (COFS) and zeoli… | 68 |
| 4 | WO2009133366A2 | Metal organic framework compounds | 56 |
| 5 | US20150047505A1 | Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) for gas capture | 55 |
| 6 | US20200179916A1 | Composite Metal Organic Framework Materials, Processes for Their Manufacture and Uses Thereof | 49 |
| 7 | WO2018197715A1 | Composite metal organic framework materials, processes for their manufacture and uses thereof | 48 |
| 8 | CN105732728A | 金属有机骨架配合物纳米片、制备方法及其用途 | 45 |
| 9 | US20110217217A1 | Nanocomposite Materials Comprising Metal-Organic-Framework Units and Graphite-Based Materials, and Methods of… | 45 |
| 10 | US20120129684A1 | Use of a porous crystalline hybrid solid as a nitrogen oxide reduction catalyst and devices | 45 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply by virtue of longer exposure in the corpus — read this as a map of foundational influence, not of current commercial weight.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three readings of the dataset that go beyond raw counts, aimed at where a claim search should start and where filing volume can mislead.
The surge has already happened
Filings climbed steadily to a 2020 peak, plateaued near that level through 2022, then tapered. Combined with the universal drop to zero at the latest-year assignee level, this reads as a maturing filing wave rather than an emerging one — new entrants are more likely to compete on application than on foundational stability chemistry.
Durability is claimed as a property, not a category
The dominance of B01J and C07F over C02F, C08G and C07D shows that most applicants attach stability language to catalysis or organometallic claims rather than filing dedicated structural-robustness patents. A prior-art search limited to obvious durability keywords risks missing blocking claims buried inside catalyst or separation filings.
Filing strategy still centres on the US and Europe
United States (228) and EPO (104) receiving offices lead by a wide margin over China (64) and India (41), with WIPO PCT filings (86) suggesting many applicants are still keeping options open across jurisdictions rather than committing early.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to metal-organic framework environmental durability, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignee landscape and collaboration patterns
Filing activity is spread across university research groups and a smaller number of applied-technology firms, with several dense academic co-filing clusters and no single assignee showing recent-year growth.
No leader is currently active by the count
Every top-ranked assignee — including University of California, KAUST, CNRS, CSIRO, and the Paris-based research schools — shows zero filings in the most recent year and, in the case of University of California, a -100% year-on-year change. This is consistent with publication lag rather than genuine withdrawal, but it means recent competitive activity is not yet visible in this corpus.
A tight academic cluster in Paris
The strongest co-assignee relationships in the dataset link CNRS with ENS Paris and with ESPCI Paris, each pair sharing 20 co-filings, with a third link of the same strength between the two Paris institutions themselves — a dense three-way academic cluster rather than an industry-academia pairing.
A smaller pool of applied players
Alongside the university and national-lab assignees, applied technology entities such as MOF Technologies Limited and ExxonMobil's research arm appear, generally filing process- or application-specific improvements to water or chemical stability rather than broad composition-of-matter claims.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | -100% |
| King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) | 0 | — |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | 0 | — |
| Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) | 0 | — |
| École Normale Supérieure (ENS Paris) | 0 | — |
| École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris) | 0 | — |
| ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company | 0 | — |
| Cambridge Enterprise Limited | 0 | — |
Where to take this research
This landscape frames where filing activity sits today; the next step is usually a claim-level search on a specific application or a freedom-to-operate check against the most-cited records.
Map claims against a specific application
Water stability claims read differently depending on whether the target application is gas capture, membrane separation, or catalysis — narrow the search to the relevant IPC subclass before drawing conclusions about open space.
Explore in Patsnap EurekaCheck the under-claimed branches directly
The thinner IPC classes identified here (C07D, C08G) are a reasonable starting point for a claim search rather than a conclusion — confirm with a full-text search before filing.
Run a deeper search in Patsnap EurekaCommon questions on MOF durability patents
In this landscape, a durability patent is one whose claims explicitly address water stability, hydrothermal stability, chemical stability, or structural robustness of a metal-organic framework or porous coordination polymer, rather than simply mentioning the material in passing. Most of these claims are attached to an applied use — gas capture, water harvesting, or separation membranes — rather than filed as pure materials-science studies. This means a durability claim search has to look inside catalysis and separation filings, not just dedicated stability patents.
The dataset shows filings rising from 37 in 2017 to a peak of 76 in 2020, holding near that level through 2022, then tapering to 11 in the most recent partial year. Some of that decline is real — the field has moved past its initial filing surge — but the last one to two years are also understated because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months. A cleaner read on the true 2025-2026 filing rate will only be possible once those applications publish.
Filing activity in this space is dominated by university and national-laboratory groups — including University of California, KAUST, CNRS, CSIRO, and the CNRS-affiliated Paris research schools — alongside a smaller number of applied technology firms such as MOF Technologies Limited. Every one of the leading assignees shows zero filings in the latest year in this dataset, which is more likely a publication-lag artefact than a genuine exit from the field. Strong co-filing links exist within the Paris academic cluster specifically, suggesting a concentrated research collaboration rather than a broad industry consortium.
The IPC breakdown shows heavy concentration in B01J (catalysis, 467 records) and C07F (organometallics, 332), with comparatively thin coverage in C08G condensation polymers (35) and C07D heterocyclic chemistry (22). Areas like MOF-polymer composite membranes for aqueous separation and heterocyclic linker chemistry for hydrolytic resistance appear under-claimed relative to the core classes. That thinness is a starting signal for a claim search, not proof of open space — a full-text check against the most-cited records is still required before filing.
Not necessarily. Citation counts accumulate over time within a searched corpus, so older filings such as the sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting patent or the MOF membrane patent naturally collect more citations simply by having been available longer. High citation counts are a better signal of foundational influence on later filings than of current commercial relevance. A newer, less-cited filing can still represent the more commercially active claim if it targets a currently growing application.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.