Immobilizing Fe-MOFs for water purification and critical minerals recovery

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as environment functional materials have attracted increasing attentions in water decontamination and critical minerals recovery. Among MOFs, Fe-MOFs are considered as one class of optical candidates for the above applications due to their high efficiency, low cost and eco-friendly. However, it is difficult to recover powdery Fe-MOFs from aqueous system after being used, which hinders their practical applications. To address this problem, researchers devote many efforts in Fe-MOFs immobilization on macroscopic supports like porous alumina, sponge foam, gel, cotton and so on. In this review, the immobilization methods of Fe-MOFs were systematically summarized and discussed. Further, the applications of some immobilized Fe-MOFs were introduced to analyze their potential in water purification and critical minerals recovery. Finally, the prospects of immobilized Fe-MOFs in pollutants removal and critical minerals recovery from water were proposed.