Opportunities of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as a promising antibacterial agent

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging class of crystalline porous polymers with significant potential as antibacterial agents in both biomedical and environmental fields. Recently, COFs emerged as a very promising research direction due to their large surface area, sustained-release capability, porosity, and high flexibility in structural and functional design. Although the use of COFs as antibacterial agents is still in its early stages, they have rapidly gained attention, particularly as vehicles for drug delivery. This review provides an overview of the recent progress in antibacterial COF research, bibliometric analysis (2017–2025), properties of COFs, monomer design in bioactive COFs, antibacterial mechanisms, DFT studies, biocompatibility, and toxicity considerations. The antibacterial mechanisms of COFs are categorized into photocatalytic, physical contact, physical, and synergistic effects. Current limitations, including poor biodegradability, incomplete understanding of their mechanism of action, and limited in vivo validation, are highlighted, along with future opportunities for the design of biodegradable and multifunctional COF materials for biomedical and environmental applications. This review provides a roadmap for advancing COF materials from laboratory research to practical uses by linking the correlations between structure, function, and antibacterial outcomes.