Recent development in bimetallic metal organic frameworks as photocatalytic material

The augmented global energy demand has always motivated substantial research activities on the efficient use of solar power. In that respect, photocatalysis which is a distinctive, heterogonous catalysis has received considerable attention to transform solar energy into chemical energy. Bimetallic metal organic frameworks (BMOFs) have emerged as a class of hybrid crystalline materials contributing significantly to the field of photocatalysis. Numerous techniques have been established to prepare BMOFs with rational design and structures. The property that stands out in case of BMOFs is their huge structural tunability usually not seen in many semiconductors based photocatalysts. BMOFs show synergistic effect between the two metal species resulting in improved properties as compared to either of the two monometallic counterparts. As a result, BMOFs have a wide domain of application in catalysis, sensing, supercapacitors, batteries, solar cells, gas adsorption, drug delivery, etc. They are being utilized for photocatalytic reactions, including hydrogen evolution reaction, photocatalytic reduction of CO2, pollutant degradation as well as organic synthesis due to their inherent flexibility to optimize their visible light photocatalytic activity. Hence, this review aims at providing an overview of the advancement made towards developing bimetallic MOFs, their derivatives, and their applications with emphasis on the photocatalytic applications.