Adsorption of Phenoxyacetic Herbicides from Water on Carbonaceous and Non-Carbonaceous Adsorbents

The increasing consumption of phenoxyacetic acid-derived herbicides is becoming a major public health and environmental concern, posing a serious challenge to existing conventional water treatment systems. Among the various physicochemical and biological purification processes, adsorption is considered one of the most efficient and popular techniques due to its high removal efficiency, ease of operation, and cost effectiveness. This review article provides extensive literature information on the adsorption of phenoxyacetic herbicides by various adsorbents. The purpose of this article is to organize the scattered information on the currently used adsorbents for herbicide removal from the water, such as activated carbons, carbon and silica adsorbents, metal oxides, and numerous natural and industrial waste materials known as low-cost adsorbents. The adsorption capacity of these adsorbents was compared for the two most popular phenoxyacetic herbicides, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA). The application of various kinetic models and adsorption isotherms in describing the removal of these herbicides by the adsorbents was also presented and discussed. At the beginning of this review paper, the most important information on phenoxyacetic herbicides has been collected, including their classification, physicochemical properties, and occurrence in the environment.

Facile synthesis of direct Z-scheme UiO-66-NH2/PhC2Cu heterojunction with ultrahigh redox potential for enhanced photocatalytic Cr(VI) reduction and NOR degradation

Z-scheme heterojunction-based photocatalysts typically have robust removal efficiencies for water contaminants. Herein, we employed p-type PhC₂Cu and n-type UiO-66-NH₂ to develop a direct Z-scheme UiO-66-NH₂/PhC₂Cu photocatalyst with an ultrahigh redox potential for Cr(VI) photoreduction and norfloxacin (NOR) photodegradation. Moreover, UV-vis diffuse reflectance, photoelectrochemical measurements, photoluminescence (PL) spectra and electron spin resonance (ESR) technique revealed that the UiO-66-NH₂/PhC₂Cu composite boosted light capturing capacities to promote photocatalytic efficiencies. Strikingly, the optimized UiO-66-NH₂/PhC₂Cu50 wt% rapidly reduced Cr(VI) (96.2%, 15 min) and degraded NOR (97.9%, 60 min) under low-power blue LED light. In addition, the UiO-66-NH₂/PhC₂Cu photocatalyst also exhibited favorable mineralization capacity (78.4%, 120 min). Benefitting from the enhanced interfacial electron transfer and ultrahigh redox potential of the Z-scheme heterojunction, the UiO-66-NH₂/PhC₂Cu photocatalyst greatly enhanced the separation efficacies of photogenerated carriers. This resulting abundance of active species (e.g., e^-, h⁺, O₂^•-, and •OH) were generated to photo-reduce Cr(VI) and photo-oxidize NOR. Base on the identified intermediates, four degradation pathways of NOR were proposed. Finally, the Z-scheme mechanism were systematically confirmed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ESR, cyclic voltammetry (CV) tests, and photodeposition techniques.

Selective removal of heavy metals by Zr-based MOFs in wastewater: New acid and amino functionalization strategy

Zr-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been developed in recent years to treat heavy metals, e.g. hexavalent chromium Cr⁶⁺ pollution, which damages the surrounding ecosystem and threaten human health. This kind of MOF is stable and convenient to prepare, but has the disadvantage of low adsorption capacity, limiting its wide application. To this end, a novel formic acid and amino modified MOFs were prepared, referred to as Form-UiO-66-NH₂. Due to the modification of formic acid, its specific surface area, pore size, and crystal size were effectively expanded, and the adsorption capacity of Cr⁶⁺ was significantly enhanced. Under optimal conditions, Form-UiO-66-NH₂ exhibited an excellent adsorption capacity (338.98 mg/g), ∼10 times higher than that reported for unmodified Zr-based MOFs and most other adsorbents. An in-depth study on the photoelectronic properties and pH confirmed that the adsorption mechanism of Form-UiO-66-NH₂ to Cr⁶⁺ was electrostatic adsorption. After modification, the improvement of Cr⁶⁺ adsorption capacity by Form-UiO-66-NH₂ was attributed to the expansion of its specific surface area and the increase in its surface charge. The present study revealed an important finding that Form-UiO-66-NH₂ elucidated selective adsorption to Cr⁶⁺ in mixed wastewater containing toxic heavy metal ions and common nonmetallic water quality factors. This research provided a new acid and amino functionalization perspective for improving the adsorption capacity of Zr-based MOF adsorbents while simultaneously demonstrating their pertinence to target contaminant adsorption.

Metal-Organic Frameworks as Potential Agents for Extraction and Delivery of Pesticides and Agrochemicals

Pesticide contamination is a global issue, affecting nearly 44% of the global farming population, and disproportionately affecting farmers and agricultural workers in developing countries. Despite this, global pesticide usage is on the rise, with the growing demand of global food production with increasing population. Different types of porous materials, such as carbon and zeolites, have been explored for the remediation of pesticides from the environment. However, there are some limitations with these materials, especially due to lack of functional groups and relatively modest surface areas. In this regard, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide us with a better alternative to conventionally used porous materials due to their versatile and highly porous structure. Recently, a number of MOFs have been studied for the extraction of pesticides from the environment as well as for targeted and controlled release of agrochemicals. Different types of pesticides and conditions have been investigated, and MOFs have proved their potential in agricultural applications. In this review, the latest studies on delivery and extraction of pesticides using MOFs are systematically reviewed, along with some recent studies on greener ways of pest control through the slow release of chemical compounds from MOF composites. Finally, we present our insights into the key issues concerning the development and translational applications of using MOFs for targeted delivery and pesticide control.

Zirconium-Based MOFs and Their Biodegradable Polymer Composites for Controlled and Sustainable Delivery of Herbicides

Adsorption and controlled release of agrochemicals has been studied widely using different nanomaterials and a variety of formulations. However, the potential for application of high surface-area metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for the controlled release of agrochemicals has not been thoroughly explored. Herein, we report controlled and sustainable release of a widely used herbicide (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, MCPA) via incorporation in a range of zirconium-based MOFs and their biodegradable polymer composites. Three Zr-based MOFs, viz., UiO-66, UiO-66-NH₂, and UiO-67 were loaded with MCPA either postsynthetically or in situ during synthesis of the MOFs. The MCPA-loaded MOFs were then incorporated into a biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) composite membrane. All three MOFs and their PCL composites were thoroughly characterized using FT-IR, TGA, SEM, PXRD, BET, and mass spectrometry. Release of MCPA from each of these MOFs and their PCL composites was then studied in both distilled water and in ethanol for up to 72 h using HPLC. The best performance for MCPA release was observed for the postsynthetically loaded MOFs, with PS-MCPA@UiO-66-NH₂ showing the highest MCPA concentrations in ethanol and water of 0.056 and 0.037 mg/mL, respectively. Enhanced release of MCPA was observed in distilled water when the MOFs were incorporated in PCL. The concentrations of herbicides in the release studies provide us with a range of inhibitory concentrations that can be utilized depending on the crop, making this class of composite materials a promising new route for future agricultural applications.

Amido-Functionalized Magnetic Metal-Organic Frameworks Adsorbent for the Removal of Bisphenol A and Tetracycline

In this paper, amido-functionalized MOFs with core/shell magnetic particles (Fe₃O₄@MIL-53(Al)-NH₂) was prepared by the solvothermal method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and UV/VIS spectrophotometer. The influence of different factors on the adsorption effect of the pollutant, including adsorbent amounts, adsorption time, ionic strength and pH, were explored. It was found that the amine-decorated Fe₃O₄@MIL-53(Al)-NH₂ were efficient for removal of contaminant, with the adsorption capacity for bisphenol A (234.1 mg/g) and tetracycline (84.8 mg/g) under the optimized conditions. The adsorption kinetics and the equilibrium adsorption data indicated that the adsorption process of BPA and TC was more compatible with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir model, respectively. The thermodynamic values show the adsorption of the mentioned contaminant was spontaneous and endothermic. Moreover, the Fe₃O₄@MIL-53(Al)-NH₂ adsorbent had good regeneration and reusability capacity after five cyclic utilization. All these results show Fe₃O₄@MIL-53(Al)-NH₂ adsorbent could be a potential candidate for future water purification.

3D, eco-friendly metal-organic frameworks@carbon nanotube aerogels composite materials for removal of pesticides in water

To alleviate the secondary risks of using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) nanoparticles as adsorbent, a novel method of loading two MOFs (ZIF-8 or UiO66-NH₂) on the carbon nanotube aerogels (MPCA) by in situ nucleation and growth of MOFs nanoparticles onto carbon nanotubes were developed. The prepared MOFs@MPCA aerogels were well characterized via SEM, TEM, EDS, FT-IR, XRD and XPS to reveal the microstructure and formation mechanism of MOF@MPCA. Besides, the hydrophilia, mechanical property and thermostability of MOF@MPCA were investigated. The results showed that MOF@MPCA had good hydrophilia, compression resilience and thermostability. The study on the ability to adsorb herbicides (chipton and alachlor) showed that the adsorption capacity of MOF@MPCA was stronger compared with single MOFs nanoparticles, which indicated that there was a synergistic effect between MOFs and MPCA. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of chipton adsorbed by UiO66-NH₂@MPCA was 227.3 mg/g, and can be expediently reused for 5 cycles without a significant decrease in adsorption performance. Moreover, the results of biosafety experiments showed that MPCA can reduce the risk of MOFs nanoparticles leakage into the environment and accumulation in organisms. This work can provide a new research idea, which has potential applications to remove pollutants effectively and safely from the environment.

Removal of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid from water by MIL-101(Cr) metal-organic framework: kinetics, isotherms and statistical models

Effective removal of 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), an emerging agrochemical contaminant in water with carcinogenic and mutagenic health effects has been reported using hydrothermally synthesized MIL-101(Cr) metal-organic framework (MOF). The properties of the MOF were ascertained using powdered X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and surface area and porosimetry (SAP). The BET surface area and pore volume of the MOF were 1439 m2 g-1 and 0.77 cm3 g-1, respectively. Artificial neural network (ANN) model was significantly employed for the accurate prediction of the experimental adsorption capacity (qe ) values with minimal error. A rapid removal of the pollutant (99%) was recorded within short time (approx. 25 min), and the reusability of the MOF (20 mg) was achieved up to six cycles with over 90% removal efficiency. The kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamics of the process were described by the pseudo-second-order, Freundlich and endothermic adsorption, respectively. The adsorption process is spontaneous based on the negative Gibbs free energy values. The significant correlation between the experimental findings and simulation results suggests the great potential of MIL-101(Cr) for the remediation of MCPA from water matrices.

Preparation of UiO-66-NH2 and UiO-66-NH2/sponge for adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in water

MOFs are usually used as efficient adsorbents to remove specific pollutants in water. However, because of their poor water stability relatively small particle size, their application in adsorbing and removing pollutants from water is limited. In this paper, with nitrile rubber sponge as the substrate, UiO-66-NH₂/sponge composites were firstly in-situ synthesized and systematically evaluated UiO-66-NH₂ as an adsorbent to remove 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid from water. This composite could not only remain the adsorption capacity for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid of UiO-66-NH₂, but also was much more convenient for separation after the adsorption compared to UiO-66-NH₂. In addition, the mechanism of the adsorption of UiO-66-NH₂ for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid were discussed in detail. Electrostatic interaction between UiO-66-NH₂ and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid was the main adsorption mechanism. The adsorption was mainly suitable for Langmuir isotherm models, and its maximum adsorption capacity of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid was 72.99 mg g^-1.

Selective Dye Adsorption by Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Loaded UiO-66-NH2

In this study, Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8)-loaded UiO-66-NH₂ was synthesized, characterized, and analyzed for its potential to efficiently remove dyes. The selective adsorption on ZIF-8-loaded UiO-66-NH₂ or its parent MOFs (UiO-66-NH₂ and ZIF-8) in the mixed dyes solution was explored, including anionic dye (methyl orange (MO)) and cationic dyes (methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB)). ZIF-8-loaded UiO-66-NH₂ displayed much better selectivity to MB than its parent MOFs. Adsorption capacity of ZIF-8-loaded UiO-66-NH₂ (173 mg/g) toward MB was found to be 215% higher than UiO-66-NH₂ (55 mg/g). A kinetics study based on adsorption data demonstrated that the adsorption process most closely matched with the model of pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption was an exothermic and spontaneous physical process as revealed by the values of thermodynamic parameters. Furthermore, reusability of ZIF-8-loaded UiO-66-NH₂ was investigated and revealed the significant regeneration efficiency in adsorption capacity for MB even after four adsorption cycles. Experimental results proved that the interaction between ZIF-8-loaded UiO-66-NH₂ and MB was mainly affected by the mechanism, for instance, electrostatic interaction as well as π–π stacking interactions.

Metal-Organic Frameworks for Food Safety

Food safety is a prevalent concern around the world. As such, detection, removal, and control of risks and hazardous substances present from harvest to consumption will always be necessary. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of functional materials, possess unique physical and chemical properties, demonstrating promise in food safety applications. In this review, the synthesis and porosity of MOFs are first introduced by some representative examples that pertain to the field of food safety. Following that, the application of MOFs and MOF-based materials in food safety monitoring, food processing, covering preservation, sanitation, and packaging is overviewed. Future perspectives, as well as potential opportunities and challenges faced by MOFs in this field will also be discussed. This review aims to promote the development and progress of MOF chemistry and application research in the field of food safety, potentially leading to novel solutions.