Metal Organic Frameworks and their Composites for the Removal of Emerging Contaminants

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have portrayed immense potential for the newlinedecontamination of water from various pollutants. This doctoral thesis delivers a holistic newlineapproach to rendering safe drinking water using highly porous MOFs and their composites. In newlinethe early objective of the current work, Ce-UiO-66 MOF has been validated as a multipollutant newlineadsorbent for the removal of a variety of dyes, inorganic fluoride, heavy metal chromium, and newlinepharmaceutical wastes. The fast synthesis of the Ce-UiO-66 MOF along with its wide range of newlinecontaminant removal flexibility classifies the adsorbent material as one of the most easily newlinescalable and adaptable materials for the removal of co-existing contaminants. Additionally in newlineChapter 4, the thesis work also focussed on solving the real-time handling of MOF-based newlinepowdered adsorbents. The research also demonstrates new methods to extend the industrial newlineapplications of MOFs in real-world scenarios. Consequently, an interfacial process to develop newlinecontinuous MOF nanostructures of Mo/Zr-UiO-66 on ordinary laboratory-grade filter papers newline newlinehas also been established. The novelty of the work lies in the development of robust free- newlinestanding filtration materials to purify PB dye-contaminated water. Thereby, the work aims to newline newlinemeticulously address problems related to the real-time handling of powdered adsorbents, and newlinethe generation of ecologically harmful secondary waste. In Chapter 5, the work aimed to newlineresolve some of the overlooked/unresolved challenges associated with water remediation newlinetechniques such as purification of ink-wastewaters (pen ink), resolving practical handling newlineissues, continuous flow tests for industrial scale-up efforts, and testing of MOF-based materials newlinein commercial systems (domestic pitchers). This chapter also develops an exclusive water newlinepurification technique that could be easily adapted in industrial and domestic applications. In newlinethis manner, this doctoral thesis aimed to translate the pronounced performance of MOFs from newlinethe laboratory scale into pilot- or large-scale applications. newline