About this Research Topic
Heavy metals-contaminated water is a global environmental issue. Heavy metals are serious and highly toxic water-contaminants with the potential to induce severe health problems to both humans and wildlife due to their bioaccumulation and non-degradability. The cost and efficiency of removing heavy metals from water streams remains a major challenge for effective water purification. Various approaches have been proposed to ensure that the goals set by international regulations are achieved. One of the most promising approaches is removal via adsorption. This method is particularly efficient due to its simplicity as it does not require high temperatures, and it ensures the removal of several substances at the same time. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) - a new kind of three-dimensional organic–inorganic complex- are a promising class of materials for the removal of priority and emerging contaminants from wastewater including heavy metals, as they act via adsorption and catalysis processes.
Today, MOFs can be considered one of the most active research topics in material science, and environmental science. The use of MOFs for the removal of pollutants from water is a growing research area and this Research Topic aims to offer an overview on the recent developments in heavy metal removal, focusing on the current capabilities and important properties of MOFs. The cutting-edge research developments on MOFs design, synthesis, and applications in effective heavy-metals removal from water, and the more advanced MOFs fabrication and functionalization strategies to acquire more performant adsorbents will be scrutinized. This collection aims to identify the knowledge gaps in the field, provide some references and directions on the specific MOFs fabrication towards an efficient heavy metal removal strategy, and identify perspectives for new experimental design activities. This Research Topic aims to explore possible solutions to the challenges facing MOFs in real environmental applications. A better understanding of desirable properties for MOF-based adsorbents will help to identify future applications for this promising class of porous materials since, clearly, there is not one single ‘‘best” MOF property that makes the material an effective adsorbent.
This Research Topic is proposed to act as a platform for international researchers to discuss their work on Metal-Organic-Frameworks for the removal of heavy-metal contaminants from wastewater. Themes of interest include but are not limited to:
• Overviews on the application of MOFs in removal of heavy metals from wastewaters
• Strategies to face the typical MOFs poor water stability and the interference of other ions in the adsorption process of heavy metals
• MOFs modification (including post-synthetic approaches) to further target specific heavy metals, to fully utilize the abundant adsorption/conversion MOFs sites and to improve the adsorption kinetics
• Engineered forms of MOFs: micro/nano MOF materials; two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) MOFs (nanosheets, composites, porous membranes and hierarchical porous structures)
• Modelling of interaction mechanisms between metal ions and MOFs structure
Today, MOFs can be considered one of the most active research topics in material science, and environmental science. The use of MOFs for the removal of pollutants from water is a growing research area and this Research Topic aims to offer an overview on the recent developments in heavy metal removal, focusing on the current capabilities and important properties of MOFs. The cutting-edge research developments on MOFs design, synthesis, and applications in effective heavy-metals removal from water, and the more advanced MOFs fabrication and functionalization strategies to acquire more performant adsorbents will be scrutinized. This collection aims to identify the knowledge gaps in the field, provide some references and directions on the specific MOFs fabrication towards an efficient heavy metal removal strategy, and identify perspectives for new experimental design activities. This Research Topic aims to explore possible solutions to the challenges facing MOFs in real environmental applications. A better understanding of desirable properties for MOF-based adsorbents will help to identify future applications for this promising class of porous materials since, clearly, there is not one single ‘‘best” MOF property that makes the material an effective adsorbent.
This Research Topic is proposed to act as a platform for international researchers to discuss their work on Metal-Organic-Frameworks for the removal of heavy-metal contaminants from wastewater. Themes of interest include but are not limited to:
• Overviews on the application of MOFs in removal of heavy metals from wastewaters
• Strategies to face the typical MOFs poor water stability and the interference of other ions in the adsorption process of heavy metals
• MOFs modification (including post-synthetic approaches) to further target specific heavy metals, to fully utilize the abundant adsorption/conversion MOFs sites and to improve the adsorption kinetics
• Engineered forms of MOFs: micro/nano MOF materials; two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) MOFs (nanosheets, composites, porous membranes and hierarchical porous structures)
• Modelling of interaction mechanisms between metal ions and MOFs structure
Keywords: wastewater, metal-organic frameworks, heavy-metal, inorganic pollutants
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