MIL-100(Fe): The Biocompatible Iron MOF for Drug Delivery and CO₂ Capture, Now Manufactured in Indonesia

Many active drug compounds share the same problem: low solubility and rapid elimination from the body before they can deliver a therapeutic effect. In one study, syringic acid encapsulated in MIL-100(Fe) reached a drug loading of 64.42% in just 12 hours, and when tested in a rat model, its bioavailability increased almost 11-fold compared to plain oral administration. That result was made possible by MIL-100(Fe)'s giant mesoporous cages, measuring 25 and 29 angstroms across, among the largest ever reported in any MOF. MIL-100(Fe) is an iron-based metal-organic framework built from trinuclear iron-oxide clusters linked by trimesic acid (BTC) ligands, forming a cubic framework with two types of mesoporous cages accessed through pentagonal and hexagonal windows.

Research labs in Indonesia have typically had to import iron-based MOFs with genuinely active, batch-consistent open metal sites. For biomedical applications like drug delivery, batch-to-batch consistency isn't a nice-to-have, it's a hard requirement. That's starting to change.

ITNANO (CV. Inovasi Teknologi Nano), based at the NRE Lab in Medan, is Indonesia's first private nanomaterials research startup manufacturing MIL-100(Fe) locally. Here's what MIL-100(Fe) actually is, why its open metal sites matter, and where it's being used in research and industry today.

What Is MIL-100(Fe)?

MIL-100(Fe) is built from trinuclear iron-oxide clusters linked by trimesic acid ligands, forming a cubic zeotype framework in the Fd3m space group. This framework contains two types of mesoporous cages roughly 25 and 29 angstroms in diameter, far larger than the micropores found in most other MOFs, allowing it to host large guest molecules such as drug compounds or enzymes.

Open iron metal sites are the biggest factor in MIL-100(Fe)'s performance, since these sites are responsible for its high adsorption capacity and catalytic activity. They only become accessible once water molecules coordinated to iron are removed through proper activation, and like other open-metal-site MOFs, excessive humidity exposure can close them back off. ITNANO's MIL-100(Fe) has a chemical formula of C₉H₆O₆Fe, a molecular weight of 265.99 g/mol, and takes the form of a brown to orange powder, a color that reflects the iron oxidation state within its clusters.

Where MIL-100(Fe) Is Being Used

Drug delivery

Its giant mesoporous cages and iron's biocompatibility make MIL-100(Fe) one of the most widely studied MOF-based drug delivery platforms. Beyond the syringic acid example above, MIL-100(Fe) has also been reported to hold an isoniazid loading of up to 128.5 mg/g with a surface area of 1,456 m²/g, and has been used for dual delivery of methotrexate and collagenase enzyme in cancer therapy, drawing on its ability to hold active molecules within its pores while releasing them in a controlled manner.

CO₂ capture and gas separation

A high surface area, reported at over 1,500 m²/g, combined with open iron metal sites, gives MIL-100(Fe) a CO₂ capture capacity of up to 1.91 mmol/g, with adsorbed CO₂ readily released through mild heating to regenerate the material, making it an attractive candidate for carbon capture applications as well as separation of other volatile compounds.

Catalysis

The abundant iron Lewis acid sites on MIL-100(Fe)'s clusters make it widely used as a catalyst or catalyst support in a range of chemical processes, including photocatalytic reactions for dye degradation in textile wastewater.

Environmental pollutant remediation

In environmental applications, MIL-100(Fe) is used for pollutant remediation, including adsorption of dyes and aromatic amine compounds from wastewater, drawing on its high surface area and the affinity of its open metal sites for a range of contaminants.

Energy storage, sensing, and water harvesting

Beyond the applications above, MIL-100(Fe) is also applied in energy storage systems such as batteries and supercapacitors, sensor development, and shows potential in atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) technology through composite or aerogel forms that enhance its water vapor adsorption capacity.

Why Source MIL-100(Fe) Locally

MIL-100(Fe)'s open iron metal sites are a fragile property, sensitive to excessive humidity during storage and long-distance shipping, just like Cu-BTC. For biomedical applications like drug delivery, this consistency becomes even more critical, since small variations in adsorption capacity can directly affect drug loading test results and release profiles. ITNANO, established by the Titian Research Group's NRE Lab, manufactures MIL-100(Fe) domestically with consistent quality control on every batch, giving labs in Indonesia an iron MOF whose performance can be relied on from the moment it arrives.

Whether you're developing drug delivery systems, researching CO₂ capture and gas separation, formulating catalysts, or working on environmental remediation, energy storage, and sensing applications, MIL-100(Fe) gives you active metal sites and batch consistency that a distant supplier can't guarantee after shipping, without the import wait. See ITNANO's MOF product line for current specifications and pricing.

Get Research-Grade MIL-100(Fe) Today

Whether you're working on drug delivery, CO₂ capture and gas separation, catalysis, or environmental remediation, energy storage, and sensing research, ITNANO gives you direct access to locally manufactured, research-grade MIL-100(Fe).

📦 Order this product directly on Tokopedia ITNANO

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ITNANO is a product line by NRE Lab (CV. Inovasi Teknologi Nano), based in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, advancing local access to graphene, 2D materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and other advanced nanomaterials for research and industry.