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Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with high porosity and designable functionality make it possible to access the merits of high permeability and selectivity. However, scalable fabrication methods to produce mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) with good flexibility and ultrahigh MOF loading are urgently needed yet largely unmet. Herein, we report a thermally induced phase separation-hot pressing (TIPS-HoP) strategy to roll-to-roll produce 10 distinct MOF-membranes (loadings up to 86 wt%). Ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene interweaving the MOF particles contributes to their mechanical strength. Rejections (99%) of organic dyes with a water flux of 125.7 L m–2 h–1 bar–1 under cross-flow filtration mode. The micron-sized channels between the MOF particles translate into fast water permeation, while the porous MOFs reject solutes through rapid adsorption. This strategy paves ways for developing high-performance membrane adsorbers for crucial separation processes. As a proof-of-concept, the abilities of the membrane adsorbers for separating racemates and proteins have been demonstrated.

Nowadays, one of the most challenging sustainability issues faced by society is the safety of water resources. Water pollution caused by hazardous contaminants (e.g., heavy metal ions, emerging contaminants, organic dyes) is a serious issue because of acute toxicities and the carcinogenic nature of the pollutants. With the advent of materials engineering, unprecedented technical advances have been achieved through diverse technologies in recent decades, including photocatalytic oxidation, photo-Fenton, electron Fenton, adsorption, and separation. However, the applications of these technologies have suffered from several limitations, such as the uncompleted degradation efficiency, high energy consumption, narrow pH range for application etc. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have aroused increasing studies in gas storage, separation, sensing, water/air purification, and catalysis. The effectiveness of the above applications has been extensively recognized. In recent years, these highly ordered and porous crystalline structures have been recognized as a potential alternative to overcome the technical limitations in the area of water pollution control. This perspective article reports recent progress in the applications of MOFs in the field of environmental pollutant elimination, including the adsorption, advanced oxidation process (AOP) heterogeneous Fenton-like reactions, and MOF-based membranes for pollutant filtration.

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