A review on metal-organic frameworks for photoelectrocatalytic applications

Optimizations of Liquid Phase Deposition Processes for Enhanced Photoelectrocatalytic Activities of Tungsten Oxide Thin Films

This study focuses on the preparation of tungsten oxide (WO3) as the photoanode for water oxidations by the liquid phase deposition (LPD) technique and its optimizations to improve the photoelectrochemical performance. The alternative precursor large stock solution process was achieved to simplify the LPD process for WO3 thin film preparation. The effect of boric acid in the precursor solutions on the physicochemical properties of the deposited WO3 thin films was investigated. As a result, we found that the optimized concentration of boric acid realized the highest photoelectrochemical performance. Through the optimizations of reaction conditions and surface analyses, we concluded that the preparations of a semiconductor film via the LPD technique had the potential to obtain high-performance photoelectrocatalytic applications.

Photothermal theranostics with glutathione depletion and enhanced reactive oxygen species generation for efficient antibacterial treatment

Drug-resistant bacteria caused by the abuse of antibiotics have brought great challenges to antimicrobial therapy. Herein an antibiotic-free polydopamine (PDA) modified metal-organic framework (PDA-FDM-23) with photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic effect was developed for synergistic antibacterial treatment. The PDA-FDM-23 antibacterial agent exhibited high peroxidase-like activity. Moreover, the process was significantly accelerated by consuming glutathione (GSH) to generate more efficient oxidizing Cu⁺. In addition, the photothermal therapy (PTT) derived from PDA improved the chemodynamic therapy (CDT) activity triggering a reactive oxygen species explosion. This PTT-enhanced CDT strategy illustrated 100% antibacterial efficiency against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Cytotoxicity and hemolysis analyses fully demonstrated the excellent biocompatibility of PDA-FDM-23. Overall, our work highlighted the strong peroxidase catalytic activity, excellent GSH consumption and photothermal performance of PDA-FDM-23, providing a new strategy for antibiotic-free reactive oxygen species (ROS) synergistic sterilization.

Synergistic effect of modified pore and heterojunction of MOF-derived α-Fe2O3/ZnO for superior photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

Mesoporous heterojunction MOF-derived α-Fe₂O₃/ZnO composites were prepared by a simple calcination of α-Fe₂O₃/ZIF-8 as a sacrificial template. The optical properties confirm that coupling of both the modified pore and the n-n heterojunction effectively reduces the possibility of photoinduced charge carrier recombination under irradiation. The mesoporous Fe(25)ZnO with 25% loading of α-Fe₂O₃ exhibited the best performance in MB degradation, up to ∼100% after 150 minutes irradiation, higher than that of pristine ZnO and α-Fe₂O₃. Furthermore, after three cycles reusability, mesoporous Fe(25)ZnO still showed an excellent stability performance of up to 95.42% for degradation of MB. The proposed photocatalytic mechanism of mesoporous Fe(25)ZnO for the degradation of MB corresponds to the n-n heterojunction system. This study provides a valuable reference for preparing mesoporous MOF-derived metal oxides with an n-n heterojunction system to enhance MB photodegradation.

Facile synthesis of amino-functionalized indium-based metal–organic frameworks and their superior light photocatalytic activity for degradation of tetracycline in water

The synthesized MIL-68(In)-NH2 photocatalyzed the degradation of tetracycline under visible light irradiation.

Surface Charge Regulation of MIL-100(Fe) by Anion Exchange for Demulsifying the Cationic Surfactant-Stabilized O/W Emulsion

Demulsifying ionic surfactant-stabilized emulsions remains an emerging issue due to the stringent electrostatic barriers. In this work, a phosphate-mediated anion exchange strategy was proposed to fabricate a metal-organic framework, MIL-100(Fe), with adjustable surface charge for effective demulsification toward a cationic surfactant-stabilized emulsion. By adjusting the pH of the phosphate precursor solution, the surface charge of MIL-100(Fe) can be fine-tuned. At pH 3.0, the phosphate-exchanged MIL-100(Fe) with the zeta potential decreasing from 21.4 to 6.1 mV exhibited a significant enhancement of the demulsification efficiency (DE) from 35 to 91%. Further elevating the pH to 9.0 results in the zeta potential of the phosphate-exchanged MIL-100(Fe) to be reversed to -2.0 mV, and the DE can be optimized to 96% within 5 min. The demulsification mechanism was systematically explored based on the zeta potential, distribution of the surfactant, viscoelastic modulus evaluation, and morphological characterization of the emulsion in combination with monitoring of the dynamics process of demulsification. It was found that the phosphate-exchanged MIL-100(Fe) captured by the emulsion can lead to the release of the surfactant and heterogenization of the interfacial film, causing the elasticity of the emulsion to decrease and the irreversible deformation of emulsion droplets. Consequently, the destabilized emulsion could be subjected to the effective demulsification either by the fusion pathway mediated by the phosphate-exchanged MIL-100(Fe) or direct rupture. This work emphasized a facile and promising approach to deal with the cationic surfactant-emulsified oily wastewater and disclosed the fundamental demulsification process.

2D metal-organic framework-based materials for electrocatalytic, photocatalytic and thermocatalytic applications

Ultrathin two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (2D MOFs) have recently attracted extensive interest in various catalytic fields (e.g., electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, thermocatalysis) due to their ultrathin thickness, large surface area, abundant accessible unsaturated active sites and tunable surface properties. Besides tuning the intrinsic properties of pristine 2D MOFs by changing the metal nodes and organic ligands, one of the hot research trends is to develop 2D MOF hybrids and 2D MOF-derived materials with higher stability and conductivity in order to further increase their activity and durability. Here, the synthesis of 2D MOF nanosheets is briefly summarized and discussed. More attention is focused on summaries and discussions about the applications of these 2D MOFs, their hybrids and their derived materials as electrocatalysts, photocatalysts and thermocatalysts. The superior properties and catalytic performance of these 2D MOF-based catalysts compared to their 3D MOF counterparts in electrocatalysis, photocatalysis and thermocatalysis are highlighted. The enhanced activities of 2D MOFs, their hybrids and derivatives come from abundant accessible active sites, a high density of unsaturated metal nodes, ultrathin thickness, and tunable microenvironments around the MOFs. Views regarding current and future challenges in the field, and new advances in science and technology to meet these challenges, are also presented. Finally, conclusions and outlooks in this field are provided.

Photoelectrochemical alcohol oxidation by mixed-linker metal-organic frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide a suitable platform for stable and efficient heterogeneous photoelectrochemical oxidation catalysis due to their highly ordered structure, large surface area, and synthetic tunability. Herein, a mixed-linker MOF comprising of a photosensitizer [Ru(dcbpy)(bpy)₂]²⁺ (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, dcbpy = 5,5'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine) and catalyst [Ru(tpy)(dcbpy)Cl]⁺ (tpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) that were incorporated into the UiO-67 framework and grown as thin films on a TiO₂-coated, fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode (RuB-RuTB-UiO-67/TiO₂/FTO). When used as an electrode for the photoelectrochemical oxidation of benzyl alcohol, the mixed-linker MOF film showed a faradaic efficiency of 34%, corresponding to a 3-fold increase in efficiency relative to the RuB-UiO-67/TiO₂/FTO control. This increase in catalytic efficiency is ascribed to the activation of RuTB moieties via oxidation by photogenerated Ru^IIIB. Transient absorption spectroscopy revealed the delayed appearance of Ru^IIITB* or Ru^IIITB formation, occurring with a lifetime of 21 ns, due to energy and/or electron transfer. The recovery kinetics of the charge separated state was increased (283 μs) in comparison to single-component control experiments (105 μs for RuB-UiO-67/TiO₂/FTO and 7 μs for RuTB-UiO-67/TiO₂/FTO) indicating a cooperative effect that could be exploited in chromophore/catalyst MOF motifs.