Green metal–organic frameworks for circular soil remediation through pollutant sequestration and nutrient regeneration

Abstract

Agricultural soils are increasingly threatened by contamination from pesticides, herbicides, and potentially toxic metals, posing significant risks to food security, ecosystem functioning, and long-term agricultural sustainability. Conventional remediation strategies primarily focus on contaminant removal but often fail to promote resource recovery and soil regeneration. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as versatile materials capable of addressing both environmental remediation and nutrient management challenges within a green and circular chemistry framework. Recent advances demonstrate that MOFs can achieve contaminant removal efficiencies exceeding 90% and pesticide loading capacities of up to 90.79%, highlighting their potential as highly effective remediation materials. Beyond pollutant sequestration, MOFs undergo microbial and environmental transformations that facilitate the gradual release of plant-essential nutrients, including phosphorus and iron, thereby enhancing nutrient-use efficiency, supporting nutrient recycling, and improving plant performance. Unlike previous reviews that primarily discuss MOFs either as adsorbents for environmental remediation or as carriers for agrochemical delivery, this review presents an integrated perspective on MOFs as regenerative materials that connect pollutant sequestration with nutrient regeneration through biologically mediated transformation. It brings together recent developments in the field of MOF–microbiome interactions, microbial degradation pathways, nutrient recycling, and circular soil remediation in a single conceptual framework. Furthermore, this review identifies critical knowledge gaps related to field-scale validation, standardized environmental risk assessment, scalable green synthesis, economic feasibility, and the long-term fate of MOF transformation products. By integrating these emerging research directions, this review may provides a roadmap for developing next-generation MOF technologies for resilient and circular agricultural systems.