Photoluminescence and photocatalytic degradation studies of Zn-based nanoparticles on malachite green dye

Water, the most fundamental source of life, is contaminated by various organic pollutants, especially organic dyes from the dying industry. The photocatalytic degradation of malachite green (MG) was studied using a zincbased metal-organic framework (Zn-BTC MOF) and ZnO. Thermally decomposing Zn-MOF synthesized ZnO and its structural and optical properties were analyzed using various spectroscopic techniques. This article focuses primarily on the wavelength-dependent photoluminescence properties of Zn-MOF and ZnO materials and their role in the photocatalytic degradation of MG dye in water. Zn-MOF and ZnO photocatalysts exhibited a photodegradation efficiency of approximately 99% after 40 min of visible light exposure. Based on kinetic experiments, the degrading efficiency of these catalysts followed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics with a correlation of R2 = 0.99 and a rate constant of 0.031 min-1. This manuscript is helpful to researchers working on ZnO and Zn-MOF materials for photocatalytic and environmental applications.