Dye contaminated wastewater treatment through metal–organic framework (MOF) based materials

Abstract

Among all the resources, water gets polluted greatly due to the extensive usability. Amongst all the anthropogenic pollutants, a variety of synthetic non-biodegradable dyestuffs are being released by various industries that pose a threat to the environment and public health. Hence, it is necessary to treat dye-contaminated wastewater using decontamination processes before the release of these dyes to the environment. The efficient way of removal is adsorption of dyes on cost-effective and solid adsorbents with higher capacity, but the conventional adsorbents are not satisfactorily efficient for removal of dyes. In the last few years, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been investigated for target-specific water treatment, which has led to the development of a class of porous materials and provided excellent platforms for the separation of dyes from water. Here, we intend to review the applications of MOFs and MOF composites in dye remediation from wastewater effluents in the last decade. Dye removal through MOFs has been discussed at length, along with the mechanism of the adsorption process. MOF composite materials, MOF-based membranes, newly formed magnetic MOFs, and aerogels/hydrogels have also been deliberated by comparing the results to other adsorbents used for dye removal. In addition, a thorough study on key factors affecting the dye adsorption process for increasing and improving their scope in practical applications has been done. In the end, the review concludes the study with future challenges and perspectives.