Application of metal organic framework in wastewater treatment

Water pollution is an increasingly serious environmental problem because many pollutants have carcinogenic effects on humans and aquatic organisms. Metal organic framework (MOF), made up of metal ions and multifunctional organic ligands, has been one of the most concerned materials because of its adjustable and regular pore structure. MOFs have always shown attractive advantages in membrane separation and adsorption technologies, among which water-stable MOFs are particularly prominent in wastewater treatment (WWT) applications. This review systematically summarizes the application of MOF membranes in membrane filtration, membrane pervaporation and membrane distillation. Also, the adsorption mechanisms of heavy metals, dyes and antibacterials in wastewater have been concluded. In order to tap the full application potential of pristine MOFs in sustainable wastewater treatment, current challenges are discussed in detail and future research directions are proposed.(c) 2022 Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communi-cations Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Water pollution is a serious issue due to its carcinogenic effects on humans and aquatic organisms. Metal organic framework (MOF), known for its adjustable pore structure, is widely used in water-stable MOFs for wastewater treatment applications. This review summarizes the application of MOF membranes in membrane filtration, pervaporation, and distillation, as well as the adsorption mechanisms of heavy metals, dyes, and antibacterials in wastewater. The challenges and future research directions for sustainable wastewater treatment using pristine MOFs are discussed in detail.