As a society, it is imperative that we develop technology that will provide clean sources of drinking water for future generations. Over the past few decades there has been a sharp increase in human exposure to toxic metals given the world-wide increase in energy production and the increased use of heavy metals in the industrial industry. Therefore, there is a need to develop improved technologies for the rapid and efficient removal of heavy metals from our water systems that is reliable and cost/energy effective. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a promising class of compounds, composed of metal ions and organic ligands, that are renowned for their high porosity and vast surface areas. A novel dicarboxylic acid ligand containing an uncoordinated sulfur atom was synthesized and employed in the construction of novel sulfur containing MOF materials. Large heavy metal ions like lead(II) are very soft acids and will preferentially interact with relatively large soft base sites such as sulfur. The goal of this project is to analyze the ability of our sulfur containing MOF to selectively target heavy metal ions like lead(II) over harder ions. Lead(II)-MOF sorption tests were performed using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) through our collaborators with The Water School at FGCU. Our efforts to synthesize and characterize our sulfur containing MOF materials and analyze their lead(II) sorption potential are described herein.

Using metal-organic frameworks to improve water quality in Southwest Florida

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.