In situ growth of ZnCo-MOF on Bi2WO6 3D-flowers for enhancing photocatalytic degradation via synergistic charge separation

In situ growth of ZnCo MOF on 3D-flower like Bi 2 WO 6 is developed for enhancing photocatalytic degradation. • The novel flower-like structure the surface-grown MOF achieved a 99.1% degradation of rhodamine B within 1 h. • The structure causes narrowed the band gap and synergistic charge separation for almost complete photodegradation. Herein, a novel 3D flower-like ZnCo MOF-modified Bi 2 WO 6 is first fabricated via a simple solvothermal approach and applied for complete rhodamine B (RhB) photocatalytic degradation. First, granular flower-shaped BWO and cubic MOF are synthesized. The crystal structure, microscopic morphology, and surface element distribution of these materials are characterized, and their photocatalytic degradation performance toward RhB is evaluated. To clarify the feasibility of modifying the optical catalytic performance of BWO by MOF, a synergistic BWO-MOF composite photocatalyst was prepared, and an extremely high efficiency of 99.1% in the degradation of Rhodamine B within 1 h is achieved. Photoelectrochemical measurements are performed to verify the enhanced separation and transfer of photogenerated charges. Meanwhile, a plausible visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation mechanism for the BWO/MOF system is proposed, which provides a theoretical basis for regulating photogenerated charge separation and achieving efficient photocatalytic degradation. Fig . (a) Schematic illustration of possible photocatalytic mechanism of the BWO/MOF photocatalyst over RhB degradation process under visible light irradiation. TEM (b) and HR-TEM of BWO/MOF photocatalyst. Download: Download high-res image (320KB) Download: Download full-size image