Recent advances in removal of toxic elements from water using MOFs: A critical review

Water pollution with potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs) has seriously threatened the environment and human health globally. Their widespread occurrence at varied toxic levels and in different chemical forms has made remediation measures a cumbersome task. Furthermore, recent trends of PTE release via natural and/or human sources have further portended numerous detrimental events. Hence, effective remediation of PTE-contaminated aqueous media is highly substantial. Among various adsorbents, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been recently characterized and tested being versatile and highly effective adsorbents for remediating pollutant/PTE-contaminated aqueous media. Owing to their plethora of structures and numerous intrinsic characteristics (high adjustability, porosity, surface area, selectivity, reusability, and structural stability), MOFs have lately received an obvious consideration in environmental remediation and analytical chemistry. This review initially summarized the most recent data (2018–2022) about PTE water contamination (rivers, lakes, canals, groundwater, city, and industrial wastewater). Then the review comprehensively highlighted the effects of synthesis techniques/conditions and post-synthetic functionalization’s on MOF structural morphology by critically conferring the underlying mechanisms. Review summarizes MOF limitations apropos their large-scale industrial applications. The latest advancements regarding MOF syntheses and structural morphology to enhance their industrial applications have been updated and critically discussed. Likewise, the stability, selectivity, reusability, and multi-metal/pollutant removal potential of MOFs have been delineated using recent findings. Finally, the future perspectives have been put forth keeping in view the recent trends and potential research gaps. This review will act as guidelines for future studies of MOF-mediated PTE removal from wastewaters.