Porous materials have been identified as efficient sorbent media to remove volatile organic compounds. To evaluate their potential as adsorbents, the adsorptive removal of formaldehyde (FA) in aqueous environments was investigated using four materials, two water-stable metal− organic frameworks (MOFs) of UiO-66 (U6) and U6-NH 2 (U6N) and two covalent organic polymers (COPs) with amine-functionality, CBAP-1-EDA (CE) and CBAP-1-DETA (CD). U6N exhibited the highest removal capacity of 93% (0.56 mg g −1 ) of the tested materials [e.g., CE (81.1%, 0.53 mg g −1 ) > CD (67.2%, 0.43 mg g −1 ) > U6 (66.9%, 0.42 mg g −1 )], which was 2 times higher than that of the reference sorbent, activated carbon (AC: 50%, 0.30 mg g −1 ). The results of Fourier transform infrared and powder Xray diffraction analyses confirmed the interactions between FA molecules and the amine components of the materials (U6N, CD, and CE). According to density functional theory calculations, the formation of hydrogen bonds between FA molecules and amine components was apparent and was further verified by FA/amine distance (CD: 2.83, CE: 2.88, and U6N: 2.66 Å) along with enthalpy values (CD: −32.4, CE: −45.5, and U6N: −272 kJ mol −1 ). In case of U6, the major interactions occurred in the metal−clusters (−19.3 kJ mol −1 ) via electrostatic interactions (distance: 5.49 Å). Furthermore, the sorption by amine-functionalized materials such as U6N is suggested to be dominated by hydrogen bonding which ultimately led to the formation of imine. If the performance of the tested materials is evaluated in terms of partition coefficient, U6N (1153 mg g −1 mM −1 ) is found as the outperformer in all tested subjects. Regeneration of spent MOFs/COPs was also plausible in the presence of ethanol to maintain their structural integrity even after 10 adsorption−desorption cycles. Overall, the selected MOFs/COPs were seen to have very high removal capacity for hazardous FA molecules in aqueous phase.
In this research, we investigated the sorptive behavior of a mixture of 14 volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (four aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, p-xylene, and styrene), six C2-C5 volatile fatty acids (VFAs), two phenols, and two indoles) against three metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), i.e., MOF-5, Eu-MOF, and MOF-199 at 5 to 10 mPa VOC partial pressures (25 °C). The selected MOFs exhibited the strongest affinity for semi-volatile (polar) VOC molecules (skatole), whereas the weakest affinity toward was volatile (non-polar) VOC molecules (i.e., benzene). Our experimental results were also supported through simulation analysis in which polar molecules were bound most strongly to MOF-199, reflecting the presence of strong interactions of Cu2+ with polar VOCs. In addition, the performance of selected MOFs was compared to three well-known commercial sorbents (Tenax TA, Carbopack X, and Carboxen 1000) under the same conditions. The estimated equilibrium adsorption capacity (mg.g−1) for the all target VOCs was in the order of; MOF-199 (71.7) >Carboxen-1000 (68.4) >Eu-MOF (27.9) >Carbopack X (24.3) >MOF-5 (12.7) >Tenax TA (10.6). Hopefully, outcome of this study are expected to open a new corridor to expand the practical application of MOFs for the treatment diverse VOC mixtures.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.