MOFs meet wood: Reusable magnetic hydrophilic composites toward efficient water treatment with super-high dye adsorption capacity at high dye concentration

Organic dye in water is a crucial global environmental problem. Notably, dyes, especially anionic dye Congo red (CR) and cationic dye Methylene blue (MB), have carcinogenic and mutagenic effects on human health. However, the commercial activated carbon with bad reusability is difficult to collect, which results in poor actual adsorption. In this paper, ZIF-67@wood obtained by in situ growth of ZIF-67 on wood is carbonized to prepare magnetic WC-Co composites. The hierarchical porous structure of wood can facilitate the rapid passage of dye solution, and promote full contact between magnetic core–shell Co/C nanoparticles and dyes. The adsorption capacities of CR and MB by Co/C-1000 are 1117.03 and 805.08 mg g−1, respectively. The pHpzc (7.9) of Co/C-1000 is then determined. When the dye concentration reaches 1200 mg L−1, the removal efficiency of Co/C-1000 reaches 99.98% under gravity. With the flux of 1.0 × 104 L m−2h−1 for CR solution (100 mg L−1), the removal efficiency of Co/C-1000 filter connected with peristaltic pump is almost 99.28%. In addition, the Co/C-1000 filter with high reusability and the adsorbed dyes can be removed by simple burning. This economical, recyclable and self-supporting filter with ultra-high adsorption capacity feature has the potential to replace commercial activated carbon and it will be widely used in practical wastewater treatment.