Superior adsorptive removal of anionic dyes from aqueous solutions using functionalized UiO-67 frameworks
摘要
Dyes are environmental contaminants that are commonly found in printing and dyeing wastewater, thereby posing a danger to human health due to their carcinogenic nature. However, the development of highly efficient methods for the removal of dyes from wastewater remains largely unexplored. In this study, pristine and amino-modified hafnium-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs; UiO-67(Hf) and UiO-67(Hf)-NH2) were demonstrated to exhibit superior dye removal performances. The maximum adsorption capacities of the pristine and amino-modified hafnium-based UiO-67 were 691.0, 493.2, and 358.3 mg g− 1 for Congo red (CR), methyl orange (MO), and o-cresolsulfonphthalein (OC), respectively. The removal efficiency of UiO-67(Hf)-NH2 toward the linear dyes (CR and MO) significantly exceeded that of the pristine UiO-67(Hf) due to hydrogen bonding between the former MOF and the dye molecules, which promoted adsorption. Additionally, the removal efficiency of the nonlinear OC dye was lower for the UiO-67(Hf)-NH2 system than for UiO-67(Hf) because of steric hindrance. Furthermore, the synergetic interplay between hydrogen bonding, π–π, electrostatic, and hydrophobic interactions resulted in two distinct adsorption regimes depending on the initial OC and MO concentrations. Overall, these results provide a fundamental understanding of the dye removal mechanisms associated with MOF adsorbents.