Surfactant-assisted synthesis of Metal-Organic Frameworks for heavy metal removal

Novel Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), specifically Ca-BTC-H 2 O (Ca(hbtc)·2H 2 O), featuring diverse sizes and shapes, have been synthesized via a surfactant-assisted method. In this synthesis, Ca(II) serves as the metal center, while trimesic acid acts as the organic ligand. Further research has delved into the correla-tion between the surfactant contents and the resulting particle morphology of the synthesized product. The samples underwent comprehensive characterization through a series of techniques, including but not limited to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results demonstrated that the size and shape of Ca-BTC-H 2 O are tunable by adjusting the contents of the surfactant used in the synthesis process. Rod- and sheet-like Ca-BTC-H 2 O are now readily accessmaible. Furthermore, the kinetic characteristics of removing heavy metal Pb(II) using the rod-shaped Ca-BTC-H 2 O were investigated. The findings revealed that the as-synthesized Ca-BTC-H 2 O effectively facilitates the removal of Pb(II) heavy metals from sewage, demonstrating its potential as a wastewater treatment agent.