Critical metals recovery with functionalized Zr-based MOFs

The goal of this proposal is to study metal uptake in metal-organic frameworks from waste-water and other industrial solution produce. The proposal is a part of the project financed by the Research Council of Norway on metal separation and recovery with MOFs, MOFsorbMET. Functionalized Zr-based MOF samples with adsorbed metal ions of interest will be pressed into pellets and investigated with EXAFS and XRD. From the local structure around the metals we can infer the adsorption sites in these compounds. Furthermore, the dependence of the local structure on the adsorption parameters will be investigated and optimal conditions for the critical metals recovery by functionalised Zr- based MOFs will be established. The knowledge of metal-binding site on MOFs is also highly relevant for fields such as catalysis, sensors, gas separation etc.