Journal article
Actuatable MOF nanostructures for sustainable recovery of precious metals from e-waste
Journal of cleaner production, v 522, 146366
01 Sep 2025
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
The availability of primary sources of precious metals, such as gold and palladium, is severely limited. To address this pressing issue, there is an urgent need to develop new materials and technologies that can efficiently recover and recycle precious metals from secondary sources, like electronic waste (e-waste). In this work, we have designed new dynamic hybrid nanostructures composed of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) that grow uniformly on the magnetic Fe
O
nanospheres. These magnetically-actuated ZIF-67-derived responsive nanostructures (MZRs) are capable of dynamically recovering gold (98 %) and palladium (96 %) from e-waste through a combination of high-precision magnetic control and reliable intermolecular interactions like hydrogen bonding and inner-sphere complexation. The incorporation of Fe
O
nanospheres endows the dynamic ZIF-67 nanostructures with magnetic responsiveness, enabling precise movement and wireless control when subjected to an external magnetic field. This active movement allows the MZRs to exhibit significant removal performances for precious metals in aqueous environments, under a variety of operational conditions. Furthermore, the reusability of these MZRs has been demonstrated, with moderate recyclability for up to five cycles. These recyclable and eco-friendly MZRs, characterized by their cost-effective and sustainable design, offer a promising strategy for addressing the recovery of precious metals and contributing to a circular economy.
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Details
- Title
- Actuatable MOF nanostructures for sustainable recovery of precious metals from e-waste
- Creators
- Shafqat Ali - Wuhan Textile UniversityZareen Zuhra - Wuhan Textile UniversityTehseen Nawaz - University of Hong KongMuhammad Ahmad - Drexel UniversityRajib Ahmed - Wuhan Textile UniversityJinfeng Wang - Wuhan Textile University
- Publication Details
- Journal of cleaner production, v 522, 146366
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Grant note
- Ministry of Finance (501100005045) W2433045 / National Natural Science Foundation of China (501100001809) 2024015 / Wuhan Textile University (501100012140) 2024015 / Wuhan Textile University (http://data.elsevier.com/vocabulary/SciValFunders/501100012140) Wuhan Textile University (http://data.elsevier.com/vocabulary/SciValFunders/501100012140) National Natural Science Foundation of China (http://data.elsevier.com/vocabulary/SciValFunders/501100001809) W2433045 / National Natural Science Foundation of China (http://data.elsevier.com/vocabulary/SciValFunders/501100001809)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001578808800001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105012621626
- Other Identifier
- 991022197400404721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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Source: SDGs in the Output
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Engineering, Environmental
- Environmental Sciences
- Green & Sustainable Science & Technology