Enhanced MOF performance in chromium(vi) removal from water using tailored MOF-polymer composites

Abstract

Functionalizing the internal and external surfaces of MOFs with polymers allows for tailor-made improvements in their performance for chemical separations. In this work, various MOF/polymer composites are screened for the extraction of Cr(VI) from water. One material, which consists of polyserotonin (PS) inserted into Fe-BTC (Fe-BTC/PS), outperformed other screened materials in acidic media (pH = 3). The material offers a maximum removal capacity of 106 mg g⁻¹, which is approximately 10 times higher than that of the bare MOF Fe-BTC (9.8 mg g⁻¹) at pH 3. The Cr(VI) extraction is achieved via a combined adsorption–reduction mechanism, which is driven by the highly porous MOF combined with a redox-active polymer. Furthermore, for the best-performing material, a protective external polymeric coating was applied which allowed Cr(VI) decontamination in an even more acidic medium (pH 2). In a similar fashion, the integration of polyserotonin into more acid-stable Cr/Zr-MOFs (MIL-101(Cr) and UiO-66(Zr)) showed improved removal of toxic Cr(VI) from acidic aqueous solutions. Finally, the Fe-BTC/PS composite was also able to reduce the Cr(VI) concentration in chromium-spiked real-world river water samples at neutral pH to levels below the WHO recommended guideline of 50 ppb with an adsorbent dosage of only 0.25 g L⁻¹.