Silica supported binary metal organic framework for removing organic dye involving combined effect of adsorption followed by photocatalytic degradation

A novel MIL 53 (Al-Fe)@SiO2 was formulated and employed to treat organic dye containing effluent by an integrated method of adsorption followed by photocatalytic degradation. The MIL 53 (Al-Fe)@SiO2 was synthesized using coal fly ash. The in-depth characterizations of the newly synthesized material enlighten the phenomenal changes in the physical and chemical properties of MIL 53 (Al-Fe)@SiO2 than that of raw fly ash, which enhances its adsorption capacity in three folds. Moreover, the PL spectroscopy analysis depicts that the newly produced MIL 53 (Al-Fe)@SiO2 has slower electron-hole recombination than that of MIL 53 (Al) and MIL 53 (Al)@SiO2. The MIL 53 (Al-Fe)@SiO2 offered a maximum adsorption capacity of 681.782 mg g(-1) and maximum 89.34 and 99.95 % degradation in the presence of visible and UV light radiations, respectively. This study shows that the proposed MIL 53 (Al-Fe)@SiO2, outperforms the conventional materials in treating the industrial effluents for harmful pollutants.

Automated summary

The novel MIL 53 (Al-Fe)@SiO2 composite material, synthesized using coal fly ash, demonstrated significantly improved adsorption capacity and slower electron-hole recombination compared to conventional materials, showing superior performance in treating effluents containing organic dyes.