Metal-organic frameworks for detection and adsorptive removal of pesticides

The rapid population growth in the world has resulted in industrial growth, deforestation, and increased use of synthetic agricultural chemicals, thus resulting in pollution of water bodies and land. Pesticides are widely used in agricultural practices and are being known to provoke a major environmental problem worldwide. The pesticides which are persistent in the environment mainly consist of organochlorine (dieldrin, DDT, and aldrin) as they are considered persistent because it remains stable in the environment for a long duration and resists being broken down into their constituents. So, it is required to develop reliable methods to detect and quantify pesticides for environmental monitoring. It is required to develop sensitive and selective chemical sensors and adsorption materials leading to the detection of specific pesticide molecules even at low concentrations. Materials possessing large surface area, stability, and well-defined structure are required for this purpose. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have all these characteristics. These can be functionalized to explore their application for required host-guest interactions. In the present chapter, we have discussed the applications of MOFs for the detection and adsorption of pesticides.