Tuning the optical properties of the zirconium–UiO-66 metal–organic framework for photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange

A new UiO-66-type zirconium metal organic framework material UiO-66(AN) was prepared by using chromophoric anthracene-9,10-dicarboxylic acid as linker. The large-sized conjugate π-system in the ligand results in the bathochromic shift of the absorption peaks into the visible light region in the absorption spectrum of UiO-66(AN), compared to those of UiO-66 and analogs UiO-66(NA) made of terephthalate and naphthalene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid, respectively. UiO-66(AN) was shown to be an efficient photocatalyst for degradation of methyl orange. Our finding shows promises for the development of more efficient MOFs as photocatalysts by using chromophoric conjugate ligands.