Abstract
The surplus concentration levels of phosphate (PO43-) and nitrate (NO3-) in potable water sources lead to eutrophication and methemoglobinemia. Currently, the selective adsorbents were applied on the basis of enriched porous nature along with the highly open metal sites. Hence, the present study was planned to develop iron(III) linked trimesic acid (FTA) as two dimensional (2D) metal organic frameworks (MOFs) (FTA MOFs) for the rapid removal of soluble fertilizers. The developed 2D FTA MOFs possesses the enhanced adsorption capacities of 55.021 +/- 0.03 and 72.342 +/- 0.01 mg/g towards NO3- and PO43- respectively. Thermal property, crystallinity, functional groups, porous surface nature and elemental formation of FTA MOFs was explored using TGA, XRD, DTA, FTIR, BET and EDAX. The formation of surface complex and electrostatic attraction was governed during adsorption process. The nature of nitrate and phosphate adsorption is spontaneous and endothermic. The FTA MOFs showed the good results by studying with the collected water which ensures field suitability. The proposed FTA MOFs acts as beneficial and reusable tool for fertilizers adsorption in field environment.