Constructing novel red phosphorus decorated iron-based metal organic framework composite with efficient photocatalytic performance

Novel heterojunction compounds between Fe-based metal organic framework (MIL-101(Fe)) and non-metallic red phosphorus (RP) were firstly and successfully fabricated by a facile low-temperature solvothermal process. The experimental results show that RP (15 wt%)/MIL-101(Fe) composite exhibits excellent photocatalytic efficiency for tetracycline (TC) degradation (90.1% in 80 min) with the following reaction conditions: initial pH at 5, TC concentrations of 50 mg/L, catalyst dosage of 0.50 g/L and full spectrum irradiation. Besides, the asprepared RP (15 wt%)/MIL-101(Fe) shows a good stability after multiple usage cycles. High specific surface areas, improvement of light absorption intensity and suppression of charge recombination should be responsible for the high photocatalytic performance. Moreover, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed based on the trapping experiments and electron spin resonance analysis. As expected, the as-prepared RP/MIL-101(Fe) composite could be used as an excellent photocatalyst for the removal of many hazard pollutants in the wastewater.