Coordination chemistry of metal–organic frameworks: Detection, adsorption, and photodegradation of tetracycline antibiotics and beyond

Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), an emerging class of porous organic‐inorganic hybrid materials, have shown great potential for water and wastewater treatment applications. However, pure MOF powders have limited practical applications in water treatment due to their insolubility, poor processability, brittleness, safety hazard from dust formation, and difficult separation from aqueous solutions. Thus, exploring potential MOFs composites with improved separation performance is of great importance. The marriage of MOFs with electrospun nanofiber with forethought into the final product's morphology, structure, and chemistry has opened up new opportunities for efficient wastewater treatment. The present review exhaustively summarizes the strategies to integrate MOFs into nanofibers via electrospinning to remove various pollutants (i.e., organic dyes, heavy metal ions, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, oily compounds, organic solvents, etc.) via adsorption, photodegradation, and membrane filtration. Besides, the most recent advances of electrospun MOF nanofibers for wastewater treatment and their current challenges and future outlook are delineated.

Metal‐Organic Frameworks and Electrospinning: A Happy Marriage for Wastewater Treatment

In the present work, a series of polysulfone (PSf) mixed-matrix nanofiltration membranes containing highly water stable UiO-66 metal-organic framework (MOF) were prepared via a simple phase inversion technique. At first, UiO-66 particles were synthesized via a solvothermal technique, activated via two various activation methods, including Soxhlet extraction and centrifugation methods. Then their adsorption performance was investigated for adsorption of anionic methyl orange (MO)/methyl red (MR) and cationic methylene blue (MB)/malachite green (MG) dyes from water. The activated UiO-66 particles via the Soxhlet extraction method (named S-UiO-66) showed better performance for dye adsorption with an equilibrium adsorption capacity of 15.64, 48.06, 85.48, and 93.51 mg/g for MG, MB, MO, and MR dyes, respectively. Then, the S-UiO-66 particles were incorporated into the PSf matrix in different percentages (up to 12 wt%) to prepare MMMs for dye removal from water. Separation performances of the prepared MMMs were evaluated by pure water flux, organic dye rejection, flux recovery ratio (FRR), and antifouling properties. As a result, the fabricated MMMs showed good hydrophilicity and excellent dye rejection performance. Remarkably, the pure water flux of MMM-12 with 12 wt% S-UiO-66 loading exhibited an increase of 21,495% compared to the pure PSf membrane. Additionally, the prepared MMMs showed good dye rejection and improved antifouling ability, which is attractive for large-scale industrial wastewater treatment applications. 

David Schleicher

Papers

UiO-66 Metal-Organic Frameworks in Water Treatment: A Critical Review

UiO-66 metal–organic frameworks in water treatment: A critical review

Coordination chemistry of metal–organic frameworks: Detection, adsorption, and photodegradation of tetracycline antibiotics and beyond