PSust-MOF · Metal-Organic Frameworks as multifunctional materials toward P-sustainability
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31
- EU contribution
- €160,932
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Metal-Organic Frameworks as multifunctional materials toward P-sustainability
Due to the continuous global population growth, the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture is essential to ensure food security. Specifically, P-fertilizers are mainly produced by mining phosphate rock (PR): a non-renewable source. In addition, only one-fifth of P-mined reaches the global food consumed due to losses at all stages of the anthropogenic one-way P-flow, especially from agricultural lands. This not only entails an inefficient exploitation of a precious resource, but also causes dramatic damages in the environment, such as eutrophication, which is a major societal and economic problem. In addition, the conventional process of P-fertilizers production generates huge amounts of phosphogypsum as waste by-product (PG), which also contains hazardous metals such as Cadmium or Nickel. The 85 % of PG is usually disposed in large stockpiles without any treatment, resulting in serious water and soil pollution. Zirconium-based Metal-Organic Frameworks (Zr-MOFs) are an emerging class of crystalline porous materials with a high chemical water-stability and exceptionally elevated porosity. In this sense, PSust-MOF project studies the potentiality of Zr-MOFs as multifunctional materials toward Phosphorous sustainability. Specifically, the main goals of PSust-MOF project are: i) design of green synthetic routes to produces Zr-MOFs with controlled particle features pointing two specific applications: ii) Capture and recovery of phosphate ions to be reused as P-fertilizers (P-circular economy) and iii) grreener production of P-fertilizers from PR.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The efficient use of chemical fertilizers is essential to face the Sustainable Development Goal-2: Zero Hunger. Specifically, phosphorous-fertilizers are mainly produced by mining the non-renewable phosphate rock (PR), with both inefficient production and application processes causing dramatic environmental damages. A new European fertilizer regulation encourages the development of new strategies driving to a P-circular economy. Phosphate could be recovered from both waste/eutrophicated water to produce P-fertilizers. However, the prevailing recovery rates cannot satisfy the whole P-demand. Thus, novel methods for a more sustainable production of P-fertilizers are also urgently needed.Zirconium-based Metal-Organic Frameworks (Zr-MOFs) are porous crystalline materials easy to functionalize showing large surface areas, water stability and a strong affinity to phosphate. Hence, they could act as promising P-recovery adsorbents. Besides, they have recently proved to promote the dissolution of highly stable minerals. Thus, they could enhance the dissolution of PR under milder condition, mitigating the environmental risks of PR-mining. Unfortunately, Zr-MOFs are usually prepared using toxic organic solvents, limiting their industrial progress. The project entitled “Metal-Organic Frameworks as multifunctional materials toward P-sustainability” (PSust-MOF) addresses the greener production Zr-MOFs with controlled particle features by using water as solvent. The main features determining both P-recovery process and promotion of apatite dissolution (main component of PR), will be identified. This knowledge will enable the design of advanced Zr-MOF materials which will be tested, for P-recovery or PR-dissolution, under real conditions. It is expected that the results of the project will not only have a strong impact on P-sustainability. Given the wide-range of applications of MOFs, the greener design of Zr-MOFs will also favour their industrial progress in multiple fields.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA · GranadaCoordinatorSpain
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union