A Novel Multifunctional p-Type Semiconductor@MOFs Nanoporous Platform for Simultaneous Sensing and Photodegradation of Tetracycline

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Mar 4;12(9):11036-11044. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b23314. Epub 2020 Feb 20.

Abstract

p-Type semiconductors enable new opportunities for the development of photocatalysts. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) could now be manufactured for a wide range of applications. The zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), in particular, shows important desirable properties like good stability and a high surface area. Considering the p-type semiconducting intrinsic catalytic performance of CuBi2O4 (CBO) and the unique porous nanostructure and stability of ZIF-8, in this paper, we innovatively propose and investigate a new p-type semiconductor@MOFs (CBO@ZIF-8) material. Moreover, we focus on its application as a novel dual-function platform for simultaneous detection and degradation. The experimental results reveal that the platform is well suited for absorption, degradation, and fluorescent detection of certain targets. Using the contaminant, antibiotic tetracycline, as an example, the platform confirms excellent fluorescence sensing performance and good photodegradation properties under visible light. These results could aid the future design and implementation of novel and more sophisticated multifunction p-type semiconductor@MOFs platforms. The presented strategy represents the early stages of a future, genuine, general, multifunction platform.

Keywords: CuBi2O4@ZIF-8; MOFs; fluorescence; p-type semiconductor; photodegradation.