Development of a bismuth-based metal-organic framework for photocatalytic hydrogen production

A novel 3D bismuth-organic framework (called Bi-TBAPy) single crystal was synthesized by employing 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-benzoic acid)pyrene (H(4)TBAPy) as an organic linker. The study demonstrates that the Bi-TBAPy not only possesses good chemical stability and suitable band edge positions for promising photocatalytic H-2 evolution, but it also exhibits a typical ligand-to-metal charge transfer for favorable charge separation. The photocatalytic H-2 evolution rates on the as-obtained Bi-TBAPy with different cocatalysts modified were examined with triethanolamine as the sacrificial reagent. Based on this, the hydrogen evolution rate of 140 mu mol h(-1) g(-1) was obtained on the optimized sample with a loading of 2 w% Pt as a cocatalyst. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first bismuth-based metal-organic framework (MOF) that functions as an effective photocatalyst for photocatalytic water reduction. Our study not only adds a new member to the family of photocatalyst materials, but also reveals the importance of cocatalyst modification in improving photocatalytic activity of MOFs. (C) 2019, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.