MOF-Derived Semiconductor Materials for Wastewater-Driven Energy Production and Environmental Remediation

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based semiconductors are now becoming a broadly applicable material to address water pollution and at the same time supply sustainable energy. They are promising catalyst materials for integrated wastewater treatment systems due to their tunable composition, hierarchy of porosity, large number of active sites and charge transport properties. The achievements in synthesis, physicochemical properties, structural engineering of MOFs derived semiconductors and their utilization for photocatalytic degradation, heavy metal extraction, advanced oxidation processes (AOP) and nutrient recovery are summarized in this review. Special emphasis is given to the generation of energy from wastewater such as photocatalysis hydrogen production, photoelectrochemical water splitting, microbial electrochemical technologies and hybrid wastewater/energy systems. The relationships between structure and performance, charge transfer, generation of reactive oxygen species and interfacial reactions are discussed. Finally current challenges, scale up possibilities and prospects of material design and commercialisation with the support of artificial intelligence for sustainable environmental applications are presented.