New hybrid MOF/polymer composites for the photodegradation of organic dyes

Hybrid Metal Organic-Frameworks (MOF)/polymer materials have gathered many researcher's consideration thanks to their varied functionalities and high processability. Herein, Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have been successfully incorporated into an acrylate polymer network by photopolymerization upon mild visible light irradiation at 405 nm. The synthesized MOF/polymer composites were very efficient for Acid Black removal from water reaching 96% of decomposition after 30 and 45 min of UV lamp irradiation in the presence of MIL-53(Cr)/ polymer and HKUST-1(Cu)/polymer composites, respectively. Probing further, the photocomposites were fully characterized by several techniques including Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy-dispersive X- ray analysis (EDX), X- Ray Diffraction analysis (DRX), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) specific surface area, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The different methods used to characterize the MOF-containing polymers revealed these polymers to exhibit a high rigidity, an excellent thermal stability, an interesting band gap energy as well as an exceptional stability for their reuse for many photocatalytic treatment cycles.