Preparation, structure and photocatalytic degradation property of a copper-based complex and its derivative material

Abstract

In order to design a new type of photocatalyst for dye degradation, a novel Cu-based coordination polymer (CP) was prepared by hydrothermal method with a novel bis-pyridine-bis-amide ligand and an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, namely [Cu(3-bbpa)(1,3-BDC)(H2O)]n (Cu-CP, where 3-bbpa ​= ​N1,N4-di(pyridin-3-yl)fumaramide and 1,3-H2BDC ​= ​1,3-benzenedicarboxylic acid). The Cu-CP shown a two-dimensional (2D) layered structure with 10.39 ​Å ​× ​16.31 ​Å cavities, containing one-dimensional (1D) meso-helical [Cu(3-bbpa)]n chain and 1D zigzag [Cu(1,3-BDC)]n chain. The influence of bis-pyridine-bis-amide ligands on the structure of Cu-1,3-BDC-based CPs was discussed. Furthermore, by using the pyrolysis process, the Cu-CP was employed as a catalyst precursor to manufacture a carbon matrix composites (Cu/CuO@C) and was thoroughly described. The results show that both carbon matrix composites have photocatalytic degradability of dyes,the photocatalytic degradation rates of Cu-CP for methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB), gentian violet (GV), methyl orange (MO) and Congo red (CR) were 35.64%, 82.09%, 87.94%, 70.26%, and 66.71%, respectively. After the characterization of the Cu/CuO@C materials by XPS and solid ultraviolet, it can be seen that they contain metal and its oxide active sites, and the narrow bandgap promotes the rapid transport of photogenerated carriers and increases the photocatalytic degradation rate of five dyes. Therefore, the photocatalytic degradation rate of MB increased to 61.32%, 98.11% for RhB, 93.22% for GV, 72.12% for MO, and 88.36% for CR. According to the quenching studies and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra characterization, the main species involved in the photocatalytic reaction were the radicals •OH. Cu/CuO@C composites derived from Cu-CP as precursors have been shown to be an efficient photocatalyst material compared to other photocatalysts.