ZIF-8 prepared in ionic liquid microemulsions for efficient capture of phosphate from water

A high-efficiency adsorbent ZIF-8 was successfully prepared in a microemulsion system provided by an ionic liquid, which showed excellent potential for removing phosphate from water. The properties of the adsorbents were determined by several characterization methods, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Brunauere-Emmette-Teller (BET) et al. The results confirmed that ZIF-8 prepared in the ionic liquid microemulsion (ZIF-8-ILM) has a smaller particle size compared with that prepared in an aqueous solution. Moreover, the ZIF-8-ILM holds a high BET specific surface area and pore volume, as well as the textural meso- and macro-porosities formed by inter-particle voids. Based on these traits, the ZIF-8-ILM exhibit excellent adsorption capacity for phosphate, as evidenced by a maximum adsorption capacity of 178.99 mg/g was obtained. In addition, the capture of phosphate on ZIF-8-ILM was quite quickly and reached equilibrium within 60 min. Graphical abstract A high-efficiency adsorbent ZIF-8 was successfully prepared in a microemulsion system provided by an ionic liquid. The ZIF-8 materials prepared not only had high BET specific surface area and pore volume but also exhibited hierarchical pore structure, which showed excellent potential for removing phosphate from water.