Construction of a mixed ligand MOF as “green catalyst” for the photocatalytic degradation of organic dye in aqueous media

In the past few years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a class of fascinating materials for photocatalysis. Herein, a new MOF formulated as [Zn(bpe)(fdc)]·2DMF (BUT-206, bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl) ethylene, H2fdc = 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide) is reported, which was synthesized under solvothermal conditions and applied for photocatalytic degradation of dyes (crystal violet and rhodamine B). Noteworthily, BUT-206 exhibited high photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of crystal violet without using any photosensitizer or cocatalyst under UV-irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet by BUT-206 was effective with a degradation efficiency of 92.5% within 120 minutes. The effects of key parameters including pH, amount of photocatalyst and initial concentration of dye on the dye degradation processes were examined, and the kinetics of dye degradation was established by the pseudo-first order kinetic equation. Furthermore, BUT-206 showed good cyclic stability in photocatalytic performance for up to five regeneration cycles, making it a potential green catalyst for dye degradation.