Continuous growth of the population has caused a great demand of energy and food sources, causing a rapid increase of pollutants in the environment. The removal of contaminants such as heavy metals and toxic organic chemicals from water sources is critical since the lack of clean water not only represents a social problem, it has also become an agricultural and environmental problem. Engineered nanocomposites of metal-organic frameworks with graphene oxide (GrO) and boron nitiride nanosheets (BNNs), MOF@GrO and MOF@BNNS, have demonstrated potential uses for small molecule and pollutant adsorption. GrO and BNNs can be used as platforms for the formation of MOFs resulting in an increased dispersion ensuring higher micropore volume, less aggregation, MOFs with varied morphology, and improved surface areas and pore sizes. Superparamagnetic iron (III) oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 MNPs) have shown applicability for water remediation due to their efficient magnetic separation and recovery of absorbent materials. We have explored the synthesis, characterization, and water remediation applications of newly developed nano-engineered materials composed of M3(BTC)2 MOFs (where M = Cu, Zn, Co, Ni), coupled to GrO and BNNs platforms, and to Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles to aid in the separation of these nanocomposites upon the removal of adsorbed pollutants.

Magnetic porous nanocomposites for water remediation

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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