Metal‐Organic‐Framework based Catalytic Micromotor for Enhanced Water Decontamination

Abstract

This work demonstrates the application of a Fe3O4/zeolitic imidazolate framework 67 (ZIF67) micromotor for improved catalytic degradation of organic pollutants. The micromotors were fabricated by simple adsorption of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on the surface of ZIF67 microparticles, which were synthesized by wet chemistry method. Both Fe3O4 and ZIF67 perform asymmetric decomposition of H2O2 to achieve bubble propulsion of the micromotors. The ferromagnetism of Fe3O4 enables easy directional control of the micromotor. The porous structure of ZIF67 benefits the enrichment of pollutant molecules around the micromotors, facilitating the efficient catalytic degradation. With intensified interaction between active sites and pollutant molecules due to self‐propelled motion and synergistic catalysis of iron in Fe3O4 and zinc ions in ZIF67, the micromotors exhibit enhanced degradation activity of methylene blue as compared to the pure Fe3O4 or ZIF67 counterparts without autonomous motion. This research can be extended to developing other metal‐organic frameworks (MOF)‐integrated micromotors for the environmental applications.

The rise of metal–organic framework based micromotors

“…83 ZIF-67/Fe 3 O 4 MMs have been also exploited recently for Fenton degradation, using the cobalt core and iron ions as active centres for OH generation and peroxide decomposition for efficient propulsion. 84 Still, in these two strategies, relatively high concentrations of peroxide fuel are used.…”

Microfluidic synthesis of graphene oxide/MnO2-incorporated self-propelling micromotors for organic dye removal

“…For example, micromotors are microscale autonomous machines designed to perform complex tasks in aquatic environments in response to distinct stimuli. These microscale machines have been designed to propel themselves by transforming diverse forms of energy through catalytic reaction, 6,7 light, 8,9 and magnetic 10,11 and electrical fields 12,13 to execute tasks in various application fields, such as biosensing, 1,2 drug delivery, 3,4 and environmental monitoring. 5 Thus, micromotors have garnered significant interest in the field of wastewater treatment.…”

“…6 Conversely, Wang et al produced Fe 3 O 4 /zeolitic imidazolate framework-based micromotors using the self-assembly method to enhance the catalytic degradation of organic pollutants. 7 However, all these processes involve multiple intricate steps and sophisticated equipment, which makes mass production of the micromotors highly challenging. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop a simpler and more efficient method for fabricating micromotors with multiple functions and variable morphologies and sizes while preserving motion robustness.…”

Synthesis and Structure of 3D Bis[5‐(2‐pyridyl)tetrazolato]diquacopper(II) Framework: One‐pot Facile Fabrication of a Series of Catalysts Towards Dye Degradation in Sunlight

“…[1,2] A semiconductor material with a suitable optical band gap facilitates the photocatalytic redox reaction and therefore helps in decomposing pollutants into less toxic and smaller molecules such as CO 2 and H 2 O. [3] Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are comparatively new range of coordinate polymers, which have been used in several fields, like gas adsorption and storage, [4][5][6][7] drug administration, [8] catalysis, [9,10] conductivity, [11] sensing" [12,13] Water decontamination, [14] and water harvesting. [15] Specifically tetrazole MOFs have drawn the attention of researchers worldwide due to their structural range as well as rare topologies.…”

“…Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) are comparatively new range of coordinate polymers, which have been used in several fields, like gas adsorption and storage, [4–7] drug administration, [8] catalysis, [9,10] conductivity, [11] sensing„ [12,13] Water decontamination, [14] and water harvesting [15] . Specifically tetrazole MOFs have drawn the attention of researchers worldwide due to their structural range as well as rare topologies [16] .…”