Construction of a novel metal-organic framework adenine-UiO-66 piezocatalyst for efficient diclofenac removal

Piezoelectric materials, which could collect and convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, have recently emerged as promising catalysts for pollutants removal sustainably. Unfortunately, it remains a challenge to enhance the intrinsic piezoelectric property of piezoelectric materials. Herein, for the first time, the polar molecule adenine was introduced as a linking agent in the synthesis process of Zr-based UiO-66 (denoted as AD U) to enhance the structure asymmetry and piezoelectric properties of UiO-66. The piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and ferroelectric hysteresis loop demonstrated that AD-U catalyst exhibited significantly enhanced piezoelectric potential than UiO-66. Furthermore, a series of electrochemical characterization evidenced that AD U displayed higher charge separation efficiency than UiO-66. As expect, the optimized AD-U shown promoted diclofenac sodium (DCF) piezoelectric degradation efficiency by harvesting stirring energy compared with pure UiO-66. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra and trapping agent experiments convinced that h+ play the major role for destroying the DCF molecules. Moreover, three possible degradation pathways of DCF were put forward by DFT and liquid chromatography mass system (LC-MS). Our work offers a new pathway to enhance piezoelectric property of MOFs and extend the application of MOFs in the field of piezocatalysis.

Automated summary

Piezoelectric materials, such as UiO-66, have shown promising potential in catalyzing the sustained removal of pollutants. In this study, the introduction of the polar molecule adenine in the synthesis process of UiO-66 led to enhanced piezoelectric properties and structure asymmetry. The optimized catalyst, AD U, exhibited improved piezoelectric potential and charge separation efficiency compared to UiO-66. Additionally, AD U demonstrated enhanced piezoelectric degradation efficiency for diclofenac sodium (DCF) compared to pure UiO-66, and the major role of h+ in destroying DCF molecules was confirmed through experiments. Three possible degradation pathways for DCF were proposed using DFT and LC-MS. This work provides a new pathway to enhance the piezoelectric properties of MOFs and expands their applications in the field of piezocatalysis.