Preparation, structure and photocatalysis of metal-organic frameworks derived from aromatic carboxylate and imidazole-based ligands

Abstract

Three 3-D metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), [Cd(NDC)(biim-4)]·0.5H2O (1), [Cd2(TDC)2(biim-4)2(H2O)2] (2) and [Zn2(biim-4)2(TDC)2]·2.5H2O (3) (biim-4 = 1,4-bis(1-imidazolyl) butyric alkyl; H2NDC = 1,4-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid; H2TDC = thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylic acid), have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized by single X-ray diffraction. The three MOFs have high photocatalytic degradation effects on methyl orange under UV irradiation. Through electronic structure analysis combined with time-dependent density functional theory calculations, catalytic performances of these materials are correlated with the molecular composition and the optoelectronic properties of the samples.