Immobilization of Cu3(btc)2 on graphene oxide-chitosan hybrid composite for the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

The graphene oxide (GO)-based materials are appealing channels for water treatment, their separation from water for recycle remains a task. The Cu-3(btc)(2) (btc = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid) metal organic framework (MOF) was covalently immobilized onto chitosan (CS)/graphene oxide (GO) to form a catalyst material, which was subjected to characterization by XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, BET, and UV-vis diffusive reflectance spectra. MOFs are permeable crystalline compounds consisting of metal ions and polyfunctional organic ligands. The structural characterization revealed that the Cu-3(btc)(2) and chitosan were incorporated into the graphene oxide structure. The adsorption of MB by GO-CS@Cu-3(btc)(2) catalyst was clearly defined by Langmuir isotherm and pseudosecond order kinetic model. GO-CS@Cu-3(btc)(2) was found to possess an adsorption capacity of similar to 357.15 mg/g. The findings displayed the probability of reusing the catalyst material for several photocatalytic processes. The GO-CS@Cu-3(btc)(2) catalyst material exhibited 98% degradation of MB within 60 min under UV irradiation. The obtained MB degradation results were fitted onto a Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) plot. The GO-CS@Cu-3(btc)(2) catalyst material exhibited high degradation efficiencies at neutral pH conditions. The results have shown that the GO-CS@Cu-3(btc)(2) catalyst material can be used as a catalyst for adsorption and as a photocatalyst for the efficient degradation of methylene blue from aqueous solutions.