Metal-organic frameworks as adsorbents for sequestering organic pollutants from wastewater

Water pollution is a major worldwide problem that endangers the survival and development of man and society. As a result of this menace, the effective and efficient removal of organic pollutants from water has become a serious concern. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained attention as promising materials for liquid-phase adsorptive removal of organic pollutants. Properties such as large adsorption capacity, high surface area, tunable porosity, hierarchical structure, and recyclability give MOFs an edge over conventional adsorbents. In this review, recent advances in the removal and degradation of different organic pollutants from wastewater by MOFs are highlighted. Insight into uniqueness of MOFs as adsorbents including; their synthetic pathways for better performance, structural features: defect and structure-property relationship, water stability (stable MOFs such as BUT-66, BUT-67, PCN-602, PCN-222, MOF-545, MIL-100, and MIL-100(Fe), MIL-53, MIL-101(Cr), MIL-101, MIL-101(Cr)-SO3H, MIL-125, Cu-BTC-MOF, HKUST-1, MOF-5 Polystyrene, ZIF-67, ZIF-8 and UiO-66) and separation-ability of organic pollutants were considered accordingly. In addition, the challenges and future prospects in this active field are also briefly discussed.