Ag3PO4@UMOFNs Core-Shell Structure: Two-Dimensional MOFs Promoted Photoinduced Charge Separation and Photocatalysis

Yinghua Liang; Rong Shang; Jinrong Lu; Li Liu; Jinshan Hu; Wenquan Cui

doi:10.1021/acsami.8b00198

Ag₃PO₄@UMOFNs Core-Shell Structure: Two-Dimensional MOFs Promoted Photoinduced Charge Separation and Photocatalysis

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Mar 14;10(10):8758-8769. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b00198. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

Authors

Yinghua Liang¹, Rong Shang¹, Jinrong Lu¹, Li Liu¹, Jinshan Hu¹, Wenquan Cui¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Chemical Engineering, Hebei Key Laboratory for Environment Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Materials , North China University of Science and Technology , Tangshan 063210 , P. R. China.

PMID: 29470053
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b00198

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new type of functional material that is self-assembled by metal ions and organic ligands. In this paper, a bimetal-organic framework was synthesized and stripped into two-dimensional nanosheets structure via an ultrasonic method. We coated the UMOFNs (ultrathinning MOFs into two-dimensional nanosheets) on Ag₃PO₄ nanoparticles to obtain Ag₃PO₄@UMOFNs core-shell photocatalysts. Under visible-light irradiation, the degradation of phenol was 100% within 16 min, and the degradation of biphenyl A was 98.9% within 20 min via Ag₃PO₄@UMOFNs (5 wt %). These values were 1.6- and 1.8-times higher than Ag₃PO₄, respectively. The activity of the Ag₃PO₄@UMOFNs increased due to the synergistic effects. The π-π bonds of the organic ligands and weak interactions between UMOFNs and Ag₃PO₄ collectively promote charge transfer. In addition, matching energy-level structures and a sufficiently large contact area accelerate the separation of the photogenerated charges and improve the activity. This remarkably improves the photocatalytic activity.

Keywords: Ag3PO4; UMOFNs; core−shell; degradation; photocatalysis.