Adsorption of Atrazine from Water in Metal–Organic Framework Materials

The adsorptive removal of atrazine, an agricultural herbicide, from water by three water stable MOFs, ZIF-8, UiO-66, and UiO-67, and a commercial activated carbon, F400, was investigated. UiO-67, ZIF-8, and F400 were found to remove up to 98% of the atrazine from water, whereas UiO-66 is found to be ineffective. In an exceptional performance compared to the other adsorbents considered in our study, UiO-67 removed 98% of atrazine from water within only 2 min, whereas ZIF-8 and F400 took over 40 and 50 min, respectively, to remove the same amount of atrazine. Upon regeneration of UiO-67, minimal loss of adsorption capacity was observed, affirming its effective use for atrazine removal from water.