Functionally decorated metal–organic frameworks in environmental remediation

Environmental pollution, a major public health issue, has gained widespread attention worldwide. Developing efficient technologies for capturing harmful substances is imperative for a cleaner, healthier environment. As typical porous materials with high crystallinity and functional flexibility, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) promise, among others, applications in the elimination of environmental contaminants. However, most MOFs materials have low decontamination efficiency, impeding the practical and advanced application of MOFs. Therefore, researchers have attempted to modify MOFs to introduce new functionalities to parent frameworks for obtaining composites suitable for specific functional tasks for the adsorption or catalytic removal of harmful pollutants. These modified MOFs represent remarkable progress in MOFs research and warrant a comprehensive review. In the current review, we highlight the current progress related to the representative functional modification of MOFs materials for air and water pollutant treatment. The first section provides a brief overview of MOFs classification. Next, the modification approaches of MOFs materials are summarized. In the subsequent sections, the applications of some representative functional modifications of MOFs for air and water decontamination, along with the related data and underlying mechanism, are discussed. Moreover, the stability, reusability, and reproducibility of modification MOFs materials are presented. Along the way, the limitations, subsisting challenges, and possible future trends are discussed. This review may not only inspire the rational design of MOF-modified materials but also encourage further relevant research.