Incorporating Polyoxometalates into a Porous MOF Greatly Improves Its Selective Adsorption of Cationic Dyes

Various polyoxometalates (POMs) were successfully immobilized to the mesoporous coordination polymer MIL-101 resulting in a series of POM-MOF composite materials POM@MIL-101 (POM=K4PW11VO40, H3PW12O40, K4SiW12O40). These materials were synthesized by a simple one-pot reaction of Keggin POMs, tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), terephthalic acid (H2bdc), and Cr3+ ions. XRD, FTIR, thermogravimetric analyses (TG), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) collectively confirmed the successful combination of POMs and the porous framework. Further, these composites POM@MIL-101 with different loading of POMs were achieved by variation of the POM dosage. Notably, the uptake capacity of MIL-101 towards organic pollutants in aqueous solution was significantly improved by immobilization of hydrophilic POMs into cages of MIL-101. An uptake capacity of 371mgg-1, comparable to that of the graphene oxide sponges, and much higher than that of the commercial activated carbon, was achieved at room temperature in 5min when dipping 20mg PW11V@MIL-101 in the methylene blue (MB) solution (100mL of 100mgL-1 MB solution). Further study revealed that the POM@MIL-101 composite materials not only exhibited a fast adsorption rate towards dye molecules, but also possessed of selective adsorption ability of the cationic dyes in wastewater. For example, the adsorption efficiency of PW11V@MIL-101 (10mg) towards MB (100mL of 10mgL-1) could reach 98% in the initial 5min, and it could capture MB dye molecules from the binary mixture of the MB and MO with similar size. Also, the POM@MIL-101 materials could be readily recycled and reused, and no POM leached in the dye adsorption process.