NH2-MIL-125(Ti) encapsulated with in situ-formed carbon nanodots with up-conversion effect for improving photocatalytic NO removal and H2 evolution

The bifunctional photocatalyst CDs@NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti), carbon nanodots (CDs) encapsulated in NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti), was constructed in situ by a simple and convenient low-temperature calcination approach, which exhibited great capacity in NO removal (at air level) and H 2 evolution simultaneously under visible-light irradiation. The NO removal rate of CDs@NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti) (10 mM) reached 53%, which was 28.4% higher than pristine NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti). Moreover, the H 2 production rate was 5820.95 μmol g −1 , which was 5.34 times higher than that of original NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti). The corresponding optical and electrical performances of CDs@NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti) characterized by UV–Vis, UCPL, ESR, and in situ DRIFTS , etc. indicated that the encapsulated CDs uniformly dispersed in the pores of NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti) could improve the visible light utilization via the up-conversion effect and photosensitization, and serve as an electron-receiver to significantly prolong the lifetime of the photogenerated charge carriers, thus enhancing the photocatalytic performance. The results revealed that fabricating CDs with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) could be an available strategy for us to boost the photocatalytic NO elimination and H 2 evolution activity simultaneously.