Enhanced photocatalytic activity of MIL-88 a impregnated with Ag3PO4/GCN for the degradation of diclofenac sodium

Metal-Organic frameworks (MOFs) have been recently gaining much attention due to their larger surface area, thermal stability and tunable pore size. In this study, we synthesized Fe-based MOFs, MIL-88(Fe) (Material Institute Lavoisier). Moreover, a ternary photocatalyst MIL-88 (Fe)/Ag3PO4/GCN (MAG) was successfully prepared by mixing Fe-MIL-88(Fe) with Ag3PO4 and GCN. This composite reduced the shortcoming associated with visible light absorption, recombination and the transfer of photogenerated charges of Fe-MIL 88 (Fe). Characterization of the composite with XRD, SEM, FTIR, BET and XPS showed the successful impregnation of MIL-88 in Ag3PO4 and GCN. A photodegradation experiment was carried out to degrade the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac (DCF) in aqueous solutions by the prepared ternary composite material under simulated solar light irradiation. The degradation experiment was carried out under different conditions which include initial pH, concentrations of catalyst and drug. Finally, by using the liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) technique the degradation pathway of DCF is studied.