Chapter 6 - Metal-organic frameworks for photocatalytic degradation of pollutants

Abstract

The research toward an eco-friendly and sustainable environment has been gaining paramount attention of researchers across the world. Out of various environmental concerns, the wastewater contaminations generated from various industrial processes are a great threat to the environment. One of the hot topics of current research is the development of advanced techniques for the wastewater treatment. Earlier, the traditional methods used for water purifications such as adsorption and membrane separation have been found to be less efficient, involve high operational cost, and also result in the formation of secondary products that are considered even more dangerous. The semiconductor photocatalysis demonstrates the complete degradation of organic pollutants into biodegradable and nontoxic compounds. But still, there are many challenges, such as their agglomeration, problematic postseparation, and utilization of only selected regions of solar spectra that made them less efficient. Recently, the development of a new class of inorganic-organic hybrid materials called metal-organic framework (MOFs) came into existence, which can efficiently overcome these problems. MOFs have emerged as a new category of heterogeneous photocatalysts due to their porous frameworks and tunable structural properties that also exhibit a wide range of absorption of light. In this chapter, the advanced synthesis methods for design and development of MOF have been discussed highlighting the research progress in the photocatalytic applications. In brief, a detailed discussion of various metal-centered MOFs with functionalized organic linker and their application for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants has been discussed. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives are taken into consideration. This careful study is expected to provide insights on the development of MOFs for the efficient removal of organic pollutants, and these MOF-based materials can be a new horizon in the near future for organic pollutant degradation application.