Environmental Applications of Metal−Organic Frameworks and Derivatives: Recent Advances and Challenges

Abstract

The consequence of environmental pollution has raised the dire need for the \ndiscovery of efficient and potent methods for detection and removal of pollutants \nreleased into air and water bodies. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous \ncoordination polymers having intriguing features such as large surface areas, \ntailorable pore size and highly dense active sites reported for various \nenvironmental applications. Recent developments have focused on the \nmodification of MOF structures, development of MOF-based materials including \nfunctionalized MOFs, MOF composites/hybrids and MOF derivatives. These \nmodifications confer new and desirable properties over pristine MOFs and \nconsequently lead to enhanced efficiency for pollutant sensing and adsorption \napplications. This chapter focuses on the recent developments and challenges in \nthe use of MOF-based materials for sensing and adsorption of pollutants from \nair and water in the past seven years. Some challenges and future prospects are \nalso discussed. In spite of the challenges encountered with the use of MOF-based \nmaterials for detection and removal of gaseous and water pollutants, they remain \nvaluable materials for environmental applications.