Exploring UiO-66(Zr) frameworks as nanotraps for highly efficient removal of EDTA-complexed heavy metals from water

Abstract Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), an exciting class of porous crystalline materials, are suitable for adsorptive removal of toxic heavy metal-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (M-EDTA) complexes from wastewater. In this paper, water-stable UiO-66(Zr) with well-defined morphology was successfully synthesized through a facile microwave-assisted solvothermal method and employed as nanotraps for the efficient capture of the three M-EDTA complexes, Cu-EDTA, Pb-EDTA, and Ni-EDTA. The adsorption behaviors, effects of solution pH and co-existing anions, as well as the eluant and desorption were investigated. The obtained UiO-66(Zr) showed good stability and excellent uptake capacity of M-EDTA in a wide pH range (3.0–10.0). UiO-66(Zr) exhibited a higher removal efficiency of Cu-EDTA (57.56 mg/g), Pb-EDTA (120.6 mg/g), and Ni-EDTA (54.27 mg/g). Based on the overall analysis results, our findings show that EDTA-metal complex ions can be adsorbed inside UiO-66(Zr) mainly through the Lewis‐acid/‐base interactions and possible anion-π interaction with strong binding energies. Size-matching EDTA-metal complexes confined in the UiO-66(Zr) with flexible geometry would also contribute to the fast adsorption kinetics as well as the selective adsorption of different M-EDTA complexes.