Recent and Prospects of Synthesis and Application of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) in Water Treatment: A Review

Wastewater treatment is designed to eradicate toxic pollutants emanating from the industrial effluent to the surface and underground water. The efficiency and limitations of most of the existing water treatment techniques such as coagulation/flocculation, photocatalysis, membrane technologies and adsorption in the remediation of toxic pollutants have been established. However, the success reported for each of these techniques is usually associated with the efficiency and environmental friendliness of water treatment products applied. MOFs-based products are one of the materials serving as an alternative to chemically synthesized products, and their application as water treatment products has been reported extensively but not systematically documented. In this review, authors endeavoured to comprehensively provide insights into the recent MOFs-based product synthesis for different applications, especially in water treatment. The key factors influencing the synthesis of MOFs, including choice of metal ions, organic linkers, and synthesis conditions, along with the latest developments in scalable and cost-effective fabrication techniques are discussed. The synthesis routes, their limitation and their performances as an adsorbent, photocatalyst and additives in membrane fabrication in the removal of toxic pollutants from water are elaborated. The prospects in the large-scale production of MOFs-based water treatment products for real industrial applications are critically reviewed in this study. Overall, a well-curated synthesis and application of MOFs in water treatment is hereby generated from the best resources accessible through the literature.