Sustainable water treatment solutions using MOFs: enhancing efficiency and reducing environmental impact

Abstract

Global water security faces dual challenges of increasing scarcity and persistent pollution. This review clarifies its focus by positioning metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) within the frameworks of environmental sustainability, the circular water economy, and life cycle assessment (LCA). While MOFs offer surface areas typically exceeding 1000 m² g⁻¹ and tunable porosity for adsorption and desalination, their transition to real-world application is limited by critical engineering hurdles. The scope of this work is explicitly defined by evaluating: (1) MOFs’ role in addressing water scarcity; (2) their environmental and economic viability via LCA data; and (3) the identification of barriers to industrial deployment, including raw material costs, regulatory hurdles, and disposal risks. By synthesizing specific examples such as frameworks maintaining stability for 100 days in saline environments and systems targeting energy consumption below 1.0 kWh m⁻³ this review identifies the hydrothermal stability benchmarks and total cost of ownership (TCO) hurdles that must be overcome for large-scale commercialization. The focus remains on bridging the gap between laboratory-scale innovation and the practical requirements of sustainable water purification infrastructure.