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The ligand structure and optimized calcination temperature and time of Zn-MOF produced carbon encapsulated ZnO nanostructure that showed excellent dye adsorption from water. [Display omitted] • Synthesis of nitrogen doped carbon encapsulated ZnO hybrid nanostructures from Zn-MOFs. • Optimizing the reaction condition and ligand structure for ZnO preparation. • Enhanced cationic dye adsorption by ZnO-NC hybrid nanostructures. • Removal of dyes by filtration through ZnO hybrid nanostructures as column packing materials. • Kinetics and adsorption isotherm models were evaluated. Water pollution by organic dyes poses great challenge to the environment as well as living organisms. Herein, we have fabricated nanoplates of ZnO in carbon matrix by controlled calcination of zinc-metal organic frameworks (Zn-MOFs) and used as adsorbents for efficient removal of organic dyes from water. Zn-MOF of phthalic acid and 5-nitrophthalic acid produced nanoplates of ZnO (ZnO-C and ZnO-NC) in carbon matrix without and with nitrogen doping. The fabricated hybrid nanostructures were characterized using PXRD, FTIR, BET, TGA, HR-SEM, HR-TEM and XPS analysis. Both ZnO-C and ZnO-NC showed high adsorption of cationic dyes (crystal violet (CV), methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (Rh B)) compared to anionic dyes (methyl orange (MO) and Eosin yellow (EY)). Nitrogen doped ZnO-NC exhibited relatively higher percentage of dyes removal (99 %) compared to ZnO-C. Interestingly, ZnO-NC showed high adsorption of MB dye across the pH range from acidic (pH = 3.0) to alkaline (pH = 11.0). The zero-point charge indicated the negative surface charge for ZnO-NC/ZnO-C that facilitated electrostatic interactions between dyes and adsorbents. Adsorption kinetics suggested a pseudo second order model and adsorption isotherm fitted well with the Freundlich model, suggesting heterogenous adsorption with multilayer coverage of dye molecules. The reusability of ZnO-NC showed only slight reduction of adsorption in three successive cycles. Further, ZnO-NC was used as column packing materials for the successful removal of both cationic as well as anionic dyes upon filtration. Thus, the present studies provided insight on the organic ligand structure and calcination temperature of MOFs for transforming them into effective organic dye adsorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous metal organic frameworks exhibited strongly enhanced highly selective cationic dyes adsorption upon coating with natural tea extract. [Display omitted] • Synthesis of porous ZnTPA MOFs nano/micro particles using amine as structure controlling agents. • Strong enhancement of ZnTPA MOF dye adsorption capability via coating natural biomolecules from tea extract. • ZnTPA MOFs with natural tea extract coating showed highly selective adsorption of cationic dyes. • Easy regeneration of exhausted MOFs and high retention of adsorbed dyes. A simple, sustainable method was developed for boosting the dye adsorption capability of porous metal organic frameworks (MOFs) by coating them with natural tea extract. Nano/microparticles of zinc-terephthalic acid (ZnTPA) MOFs exhibited only 40% rhodamine B (Rh B) dye adsorption. The dye adsorption capability was strongly enhanced (up to 95%) after coating with natural tea extract and highly selective cationic dye adsorption. The coating of multifunctional biomolecules onto the ZnTPA matrix was expected to facilitate strong intermolecular interaction between MOF surface and organic dyes, which contributed to strongly enhanced dye adsorption. ZnTPA/Tea MOFs not only exhibited enhanced dye adsorption but also showed high retention capability. The broader scope of tea extract coating methodology for cationic dye adsorption was also demonstrated using other MOFs matrix. The exhausted ZnTPA MOF was easily regenerated by sonication followed by re-dipping into tea extract. Tea extract coated ZnTPA MOFs was also used as column packing materials for removing cationic dyes by filtration. Thus, the present work reported a facile strategy for efficient cationic organic dyes removal from the aqueous medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]