A hydrophobic metal–organic framework has revealed high and fast sorption capacity for fluorine pollutants.

Zirconium Metal−Organic Framework materials (MOF, UiO-66 and UiO-67) have been used for the removal from aqueous solutions of persistent fluorinated pollutants, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). The two isostructural materials differ in cavity size, defined by the ligand, bdc (benzene-dicarboxylic acid) or bpdc (biphenyl-dicarboxylic acid) for UiO-66 and UiO-67 respectively. Both materials enable efficient sorption of both PFOA and PFOS. Sorption kinetics and isotherms have been experimentally determined, and thermodynamic parameters ΔH°, ΔS° and ΔG° have been determined. UiO-67 shows higher sorption capacities (up to 743 mg.g-1 for PFOA) compared to these of UiO-66 (388 and 160 mg.g-1 for the sorption of PFOA and PFOS respectively) with a change in the sorption mechanism.