A 8-fold interpenetrated metal-organic framework: Luminescent property and photocatalytic dye degradation performance

The self-assembly of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, benzene-p-dicarboxylic acid (H2BDC) and tris(4-(4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)phenyl)amine (L) affords a new Zn(II)-based metal-organic framework (MOF) with the formula of {[Zn3(L)(BDC)3(H2O)3]·3.5H2O}n (1). The structural determination results reveal that complex 1 demonstrates a 8-fold interpenetrated three-dimensional network with a 3-connected srs net. The photoluminescent study shows that the interligand-based charge-transfer contributes to the strong emission of 1 ​at room temperature. Furthermore, complex 1 could be applied as an efficient photocatalyst for the elimination of Rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) with the degradation efficiency all above 90% within 70 ​min under UV light irradiation. In connection to this, the detailed degradation mechanism has been probed both experimentally and computationally.