Two novel 2D coordination polymers constructed from 5-aminoisophthalic acid and 4,4′-bipyridyl ligands: Syntheses, crystal structure, and photocatalytic performance

Two coordination polymers, [Zn(5-aip)(bpy)0.5]·H2O (1), and [Ni(5-aip)(bpy)0.5(H2O)]·2H2O (2), constructed by 5-aminoisophthalic acid (5-H2aip), 4,4'-bipyridine (bpy), and corresponding ions, have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions, and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), CHN elemental analysis and UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV–Vis DRS). Both 1 and 2 were built up of two-dimensional [Zn(5-aip)(bpy)0.5] and [Ni(5-aip)(bpy)0.5(H2O)] sheets, respectively. The UV–Vis DRS results revealed that the Eg values of 1 and 2 are 3.4 and 2.4 eV, respectively. The photocatalytic activities of degradation of methyl orange (MO), methylene blue (MB) and MO&MB mixture over 1 and degradation of MB over 2 under UV light irradiation were investigated. The results revealed that 1 exhibited good performance to photocatalytically decompose MB, MO and MB&MO mixture, while 2 can only degrade MB efficiently.