A new 3D Zn(II)‐based coordination polymer with kgd topology as potent photocatalyst for antibiotic degradation

A new coordination polymer (CP) with composition [Zn 3 (bpyp) 2 (TCB) 2 (H 2 O) 2 ] n ( 1 ) has been engendered by performing reaction of Zn(II) with 1,3,5‐ tris ‐(4‐carboxyphenyl)benzene (H 3 TCB) and 2,5‐bis(pyrid‐4‐yl)pyridine (bpyp) under solvothermal condition. The single crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis for 1 suggests kgd topological behavior having resemblance with a tessellation composed of diamond shapes arranged in a star pattern and represented by the Schläfli symbol {4 1 } 2 {4 2 ·6 2 ·8 1 }. This newly designed CP exhibits optical band gap of 2.92 eV and employed as photocatalyst for photodegradation of antibiotics, namely, nitrofurazone (NFZ), chloramphenicol (CAP), sulfasalazine (SLA), oxytetracycline (OXY), and furazolidone (FZD). Among these antibiotics, 1 displays best photocatalytic activity against the photodegradation of NFZ and under optimized conditions viz. photocatalyst dosage of 15 mg, and initial NFZ concentration of 40 ppm, the CP 1 displays best catalytic performance and photo‐decomposed 93.04% NFZ with pseudo first order rate constant k of 0.04502 min −1 in 1 h. The likely photocatalytic mechanism has been evaluated using theoretical calculations.