Synthesis strategies and emerging mechanisms of metal-organic frameworks for sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation process: A review

Recently, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) based materials as the emerging catalysts for sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) applications have progressively become a burgeoning research field. Herein, an in-depth overview of state-of-the-art MOFs-based materials currently available in SR-AOPs applications for environmental remediation is presented. The synthetic strategies of different types of MOFs-based materials are summarized. Most importantly, particular emphasis is placed on the applications of MOFs-based materials in SR-AOPs for wastewater treatment. Identification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from the radical and non-radical pathways is addressed. Moreover, the theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) to predict and explore the possible reaction mechanisms in MOFs-based SR-AOPs are summarized and discussed. Special attention has been focused on the effects of structure on the catalytic activities and the circumstance of radical and non-radical reaction mechanisms in MOFs-based SR-AOPs. Finally, the unresolved challenges of the existent MOFs-based SR-AOPs are pointed out and the outlooks of future research directions are proposed.