Fabrication of a family of BiOI-doped copper-organic frameworks for enhancing photocatalytic degradation of dyes

Organic dyes are one of the most popular dyes used in industrial and consumption nowadays, and the use of dyes has certain hazards. One of the greenest and most efficient methods for breaking down organic contaminants is photocatalysis. It is a green technology that has enormous promise for the environment and energy sectors. In this work, p-type BiOI nanosheets were deposited in situ on n-type copper-based metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) to create a unique BiOI@Cu-MOF heterojunction. The BiOI@Cu-5 heterojunction that is optimized showed nearly 100 % removal of rose Bengal (RB) under UV irradiation as well as the degradation rates of methyl orange (MO), crystal violet (GV), methylene blue (MB), and rhodamine B (RhB) were 99.70 %, 95.70 %, 27.20 %, and 23.90 %, respectively. First, the introduction of narrow bandgap BiOI into the material can effectively enhance its absorption of sunlight. Secondly, the high specific surface of the Cu-based MOFs material is favorable for improving the catalytic activity of the catalyst. More critically, the intrinsic electric field at the Cu-MOFs/BiOI heterojunction interface facilitates a successful division of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Further studies revealed that the photogenerated holes are the important active ingredients for RB scavenging. In this paper, Bibased semiconductors were used to create p-n heterostructures that will bring new ideas for increasing MOF photocatalytic activity.