A new Zn(II)-based coordination polymer as an efficient catalyst for nitrofurazone photodegradation: Mechanism and calculation

The incremental use of herbicides is now contributing to a pollution issue in aquatic environments. Coordination polymers (CPs) represent a unique category of multidimensional materials suitable for use as photocatalysts in the degrading of antibiotics which present in discharged wastewater. A comprehensive investigation was undertaken on a newly developed CP, [Zn(bpyp)(CH3COO)(NO3)·1.75H2O]n where bpyp = 2,5-bis(pyrid-4-yl)pyridine to explore its photocatalyst towards antibiotic. CP 1 shows semiconducting in nature with an Eg of 3.31 eV. CP 1 exhibited significant catalytic activity for the degradation of many antibiotics, including four popular antibiotics: nitrofurazone (NFZ), furazolidone (FZD), oxytetracycline (OXY), and nitrofurantoin (NFT) in an aqueous solution. It exhibited an impressive 99 % degradation of NFZ within 60 min. The radical trapping experiments were used to conduct a preliminary investigation into the catalytic mechanism of the reaction.