Pedosphere (2): 614--622, 2026
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2026 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| In situ remediation of persistent organic pollutants in soil using retrievable sorbents composed of cotton fabrics decorated with UiO-66-NH3+ metal-organic frameworks |
Vasiliki GOUMA1, Anastasia D. POURNARA1,2, Manolis J. MANOS1, Dimosthenis L. GIOKAS1 |
1 Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110 (Greece)
2 Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 (USA) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Sorbent amendment is a convenient method for the in situ remediation of soil, but it is limited by the difficulty in recovering the sorbent from soil. This work aimed to introduce a novel method for the remediation of contaminated soils that relies on the in situ removal of contaminants from soil by retrievable sorbents. The remediation process is based on adding cotton fabric sheets decorated with a metal-organic framework (MOF) in a contaminated soil matrix and mixing to sorb the contaminants. Then, the MOF-modified cotton fabric, carrying the sorbed pollutants, is easily retrieved from the soil. As a demonstration, a zirconium (Zr)-based MOF (UiO-66-NH3+, MOR-1) was irreversibly immobilized on polydopamine (PDA)-decorated cotton fabrics (MOR-1@PDA-cotton fabric) and used to remediate a soil contaminated with organic ultraviolet (UV) filters, as model hydrophobic persistent organic pollutants, namely, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone, 2-ethylhexyl 4-methoxycinnamate, isoamyl 4-methoxycinnamate, 2-ethylhexyl 4-(dimethylamino)benzoate, 3-(4-methylbenzylidene)camphor, and 2-ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate. The results showed that 1.88 cm2 MOR-1@PDA-cotton fabric g-1 soil can remove 43%-90% of the UV filters within 60 d of application in moist (> 50% moisture) soil. Notably, by eluting the adsorbed UV filters from the MOR-1@PDA-cotton fabric with methanol, the sorbent could be reused up to 5 times. Not least, the sorbent exhibited good stability in aqueous and acidic media, which is an essential feature for its safe disposal. Overall, the developed method proposes a new approach to in situ soil remediation, paving the way for future applications exploring nanosorbent materials incorporated into bulk supports. |
| Key Words: intraparticle mass transfer diffusion,MOR-1,nanosorbent,reusability,safe disposal,soil amendment,ultraviolet filter |
| Citation: Gouma V, Pournara A D, Manos M J, Giokas D L. 2026. In situ remediation of persistent organic pollutants in soil using retrievable sorbents composed of cotton fabrics decorated with UiO-66-NH3+ metal-organic frameworks. Pedosphere. 36(2): 614-622. |
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