Cutting-edge metal-organic frameworks: revolutionizing the adsorptive removal of pharmaceutical contaminants from water

Abstract Water is a basic unit for survival of living creature and over the past few years, increased industrialization and urbanization caused a huge contamination of natural water resources. Major water contaminants are pharmacological-wastes, especially antibiotics from hospitals and pharmaceutical industries which causes water pollution. Pharmacological contaminants elimination from ecosystem is very critical environmental challenge because they are persistent and cause potential health hazards. Owing to high surface area, tunable-porosity, and versatile functionality of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), and their composites have emerged as promising materials for water purification. Various antibiotics including amoxicillin, doxycycline, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin are successfully removed from wastewater using MOFs and composites, which purifies the water by adsorption-mechanism. This study reviews the advanced progressions in the application of MOF-based composites and MOFs for the adsorption of pharmaceutical pollutants. Additionally, plant-based MOFs have been explored for their eco-friendly and cost-effective potential in pharmaceutical pollutant removal. Despite these advancements, challenges such as the scalability of MOF synthesis, stability under operational conditions, and potential toxicity need to be addressed for their commercial application. Future research should focus on optimizing the synthesis processes, enhancing the recyclability of MOFs, and conducting long-term environmental-impact assessments to ensure sustainable and effective water treatment solutions.