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RAPID, SELECTIVE HEAVY METAL REMOVAL FROM WATER BY A METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORK/POLYDOPAMINE COMPOSITE
Sun, D.T., L. Peng, W.S. Reeder, S.M. Moosavi, D. Tiana, D.K. Britt, E. Oveisi, & W.L. Queen.
ACS Central Science [Publication online 3-14-18 prior to print]

An inexpensive, water-stable, metal-organic framework/polymer composite (Fe-BTC/PDA exhibits rapid, selective removal of large quantities of heavy metals (e.g., lead and mercury) from real-world water samples. When Fe-BTC is treated with dopamine, it undergoes spontaneous polymerization to polydopamine (PDA) within its pores via the Fe3+ open metal sites. Pinned on the internal metal-organic framework surface the PDA gains extrinsic porosity, resulting in a composite that binds up to 1634 mg of Hg2+ and 394 mg of Pb2+ per gram of composite, removes more than 99.8% of these ions from a 1 ppm solution, and yields drinkable levels in seconds. Even when interferents (e.g., Na+) are present at concentrations up to 14,000 times that of Pb2+, no significant uptake of competing metal ions is observed. The material also resists fouling when tested in high concentrations of common organic interferents (e.g., humic acid) and is fully regenerable over many cycles. This paper is Open Access at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.7b00605.



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