Nobel Prize for MOFs: porous materials with potential

MOFs are porous materials with enormous potential for the adsorption of, among other things, contaminants from water. They could be used, for example, to remove PFAS from water, which is currently a topic attracting considerable interest.

Trend alert

KWR researchers Nienke Koeman-Stein and Roberta Hofman-Caris wrote a trend alert in 2021 relating to the potential application of MOFs in water treatment (BTO 2021.038) (in Dutch). This application covers not only PFAS but also the specific removal of heavy metals or organic microcompounds such as X-ray contrast fluids. More and more ways are being found to use MOFs, for example in hydrogels or membranes. “The application of MOFs is a promising development,” comments Nienke Koeman-Stein, “but a lot of research will still be needed before they can really be applied on a large scale in water treatment.”
The recent Nobel Prize award confirms that this is indeed a development worth following closely.