Synthesis of MTW@MOF nanocomposite for removal of methylene blue

Abstract

White rice husk silica (RHS) was used as a silica source for ZSM-12 (MTW) zeolite synthesis. The ZSM-12 zeolite derived from RHS was prepared by hydrothermal method at 150 °C. MOF-74(Zn) metal–organic framework (MOF) as a shell was growth over zeolite ZSM-12 as a core at room temperature. The ZSM-12@MOF-74 core@shell was used as a visible light driven photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue (MB). The materials were characterized using a range of techniques. Among the prepared samples, the ZSM-12@MOF-74 core@shell indicated the highest photocatalytic activity. The removal of MB dye by synthesized core@shell, MOF-74 and ZSM-12 was 80.37, 47.50, and 18.37% at pH = 9, respectively. Degradation mechanism was attributed to electrons and holes generated in the organic ligand. The core@shell was extremely stable during five cycle test and did not demonstrate any loss of photocatalytic activity during five cycle tests. The used photocatalyst can be reused for removal of dye through simply washing.