Zr4+-mercaptosuccinate MOF for the uptake and recovery of gold nanoparticles and gold ions under batch and continuous flow conditions

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2024-06, Vol.489, p.151107, Article 151107
• Main Authors: Tziasiou, Charikleia, Andreou, Evangelos K., Armatas, Gerasimos S., Manos, Manolis J., Pournara, Anastasia D., Giokas, Dimosthenis L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: MOFs; Noble metal nanoparticles; Noble metals; Precious metal recovery; Sorption
• ISSN: 1385-8947
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.151107

[Display omitted] •First study of MOFs for the recovery of noble metal NPs using a fixed bed column.•Rietveld refinement of the Zr4+-mercaptosuccinate MOF, first time presented here.•Quantitative recovery of both noble metal nanoparticles and ions.•Efficient capture of noble metal nanoparticles and ions from real water samples. The increasing use of nanomaterials in commercial products has raised concerns regarding their potential effects on water quality and living organisms. So far, most sorbents available for removing nanosized inorganic pollutants from water rely on electrostatic interactions or entrapment in the sorbent pores. However, this limits their applicability in real wastewater samples containing nanomaterials with variable surface properties and sizes, along with high concentrations of competitive species such as inorganic salts and organics. Little attention has also been paid to the recovery of nanoparticles after sorption. In this work, a Zr4+-mercaptosuccinate metal organic framework (MOF) with free thiol groups was investigated as a sorbent for the removal of Au nanoparticles and Au3+ ions from water. Sorption occurs on the surface of the MOF via the formation of strong metal-thiolate chemical bonds enabling the fast uptake of noble metal nanoparticles and noble metal ions from water (within 90 %), at the expense of material degradation, enabling their potential reuse.