Efficient photo-electro-Fenton catalysis of perfluorooctanoic acid with MOFs based 2D CoFe nanosheets: Oxygen vacancy-mediated adsorption and mineralization ability

Abstract

In heterogeneous solar photo-electro-Fenton (SPEF) degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), improving the binding energy between the catalyst and PFOA on a surface molecular level to facilitate absorption, diffusion, and degradation is a great challenge. Herein, we attained this goal in two steps: First, developing of two-dimensional (2D) MOFs-based CoFe nanosheets with layered structures as photo-electrocatalysts, which own abundant unsaturated coordination sites to accelerate rapid mass transport and charge transfer. Secondly, the construction of abundant oxygen vacancies (OVs) at low temperatures in 2D CoFe causes hybridization of the d-band of Fe and LUMO orbital of O in PFOA, enhancing PFOA’s binding capacity by theoretical analysis. OVs also reduced the band gap of CoFe and increased the efficiency of electron-hole separation, thereby improving photo-electrocatalytic activity and enabling rapid degradation of PFOA. Moreover, it can maintain a good degradation effect in complex ionic background conditions and actual water samples. These findings extend the applications of catalysts and consolidate the effect of OVs on photo-electrocatalysis for wide environmental applications.