Defect
engineering of metal organic frameworks offers potential
prospects for tuning their features toward particular applications.
Herein, two series of defective UiO-66 frameworks were synthesized
via changing the concentration of the linker and synthetic temperature
of the reaction. These defective materials showed a significant improvement
in the capability of Pb(II) removal from wastewater. This strategy
for defect engineering not only created additional active sites, more
open framework, and enhanced porosity but also exposed more oxygen
groups, which served as the adsorption sites to improve Pb(II) adsorption.
A relationship among degree of defects, texture features, and performances
for Pb(II) removal was successfully developed as a proof-of-concept,
highlighting the importance of defect engineering in heavy metal remediation.
To investigate the kinetic and adsorption isotherms, we performed
adsorption experiments influenced by the time and concentration of
the adsorbate, respectively. For the practicality of the materials,
the most significant parameters such as pH, temperature, adsorbent
concentration, selectivity, and recyclability as well as simulated
natural surface water were also examined. This study provides a clue
for the researchers to design other advanced defective materials for
the enhancement of adsorption performance by tuning the defect engineering.