Fe-based metal-organic frameworks: performance and advantages on removal organophosphate pesticides in water for...

The study of real-world applications of adsorbent materials for water treatment enhances the feasibility of wastewater reuse and upgrades purifying processes for water supplies, thereby decreasing risks to public health. This study examined the removal of organophosphate pesticides from agricultural runoff samples using MIL-101(Fe). Rapid microwave-assisted synthesis, stability up to 350 °C, environmental safety, and potential reusability were promising features related to synthesized MIL-101(Fe). The MIL-101(Fe) performance in the simultaneous adsorptive removal of glyphosate (GLY), glufosinate (GLU), and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) was evaluated. It achieved a 99.2% removal efficiency (%RE) for GLY within 15 min of contact and 85.4 and 64.2% for AMPA and GLU after 120 min, respectively. Good experimental adsorption capacities (≥ 97 mg/g) for the three pollutants were obtained. Characterization analysis after adsorption indicates the possible synergistic effects of hydrogen bonding, active sites of material, pore filling, and inner-sphere surface complex as likely to predominate the mechanism of adsorption. MIL-101(Fe) exhibited satisfactory recycling results for GLY and AMPA, with %RE that decreased from 99 to 83% and 87 to 59%, respectively, after 5 recycles. The high stability of the adsorbent was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Finally, the MIL-101(Fe) potential for practical applications was demonstrated with the successful removal in real water samples above 92, 80 and 60% for GLY, AMPA, and GLU, respectively. The obtained findings provide further progress in the MIL-101(Fe) remarkable use for large-scale future applications for pesticide removal in complex aqueous environments.