MOF-assisted synthesis of mesoporous zirconium phosphate for enhanced cadmium removal from water

It is unprecedently found that a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF-808) can be a source of zirconium for the synthesis of zirconium phosphate (ZrP) with discrete disc nanocrystals (4.8 to 5.2 nm in size), normally obtained at high temperature or high phosphoric acid concentration. In contrast to the routinely obtained ZrP phase, the one derived from zirconium MOF under similar conditions offers dispersed particles with more active and accessible adsorption sites for efficient removal of cadmium. Indeed, the cadmium removal performance was found to be 88.27 mg/g compared to the conventional ZrP (67.48 mg/g) under the same conditions, bringing thus clear evidence of the virtues of using Zr-MOF as a template for the design of novel nanostructured materials with enhanced removal efficiency.