Zinc phthalocyanine coupled with UIO-66 (NH2) via a facile condensation process for enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalysis

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown a great potential for water treatment as an environmentally friendly photocatalyst. In this work, a zirconium based MOF, UIO-66 (NH2) covalently coupled with zinc phthalocyanine (ZnTCPc) was prepared via a facile condensation process. Compared with the mixture of ZnTCPc and UIO-66 (Zr) by impregnation, ZnTCPc/UIO-66 (NH2) presented an enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible-light irradiation. The formation of strong covalent bonds and synergistic integration between ZnTCPc and UIO-66 (NH2) was proved by characterization results such as transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Additionally, ZnTCPc/UIO-66 (NH2) photocatalyst retained excellent stability after five recycles, and the photocatalytic mechanism was investigated systematically. This work demonstrates a high potential of using porous MOFs-based materials not only as supports but as electron acceptors to trigger the reaction for coupling MOFs with dye, fabricating novel MOFs-dye nanocomposite systems and enhancing their photostability and photocatalytic activity. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.