Nano polyoxometalate-based copper complex with double catalytic sites as heterogeneous catalyst for high-efficient degradation of phenol

The green and efficient treatment of phenolic wastewater have attracted increasing attention owing to high toxicity of phenolic compounds. In this work, a nano-sized polyoxometalate-based metal-organic complex with a molecular formula of [Cu2L6(P2W24O79)(H2O)4]·7H2O (complex 1, L = 1,4-bis(3-pyridinecarboxamido)benzene) was prepared to be as a heterogeneous catalyst for the degradation reaction of phenol. The catalyst exhibited high conversion of phenol (98.0%) and recyclability for at least 5 times. The mechanism was investigated and the synergistic catalysis of Cu(II) and the polyoxometalate sites in 1 was proved.