Ag2CO3/UiO-66(Zr) composite with enhanced visible-light promoted photocatalytic activity for dye degradation

Because of their excellent properties, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered as ideal materials for the development of visible-light photocatalyst. Particularly, although increasing research interests have been put on MOF based photocatalysts, the MOF supported Ag2CO3 as photocatalyst has not been reported in the field of water treatment. In this study, a zirconium based MOF, UiO-66, was incorporated with Ag2CO3 through a convenient solution method and used for visible-light prompted dye degradation. Compared to the mixture of pristine UiO-66 and Ag2CO3, the developed Ag2CO3/UiO-66 composite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity to the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. It was supposed that the participation of UiO-66 during the synthesis of Ag2CO3 was crucial for such improvement. In addition, the Ag2CO3/UiO-66 composite demonstrated good structural stability after the degradation experiment, and most of its photocatalytic activity was still preserved after the recycle test. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism of the Ag2CO3/UiO-66 composite was investigated and a possible pathway of RhB degradation was also proposed.