Transition metal-substituted polyoxometalates (POMs) were filled into a metal-organic framework (MOF) to construct a series of POM@MOF composites (PMo12O40@MIL-101, PMo11VO40@MIL-101, PMo10V2O40@MIL-101). The composite materials possess ultra-high adsorption ability, especially for PMo10V2O40@MIL-101, with an adsorption capacity of 912.5 mg·g-1 for cationic antibiotic tetracycline in wastewater, much higher than that of isolated MIL-101(Fe) and the commonly used adsorption materials, such as activated carbon and graphene oxide. In particular, they can be used as efficient photocatalysts for the photodegradation of antibiotics under visible light irradiation. The complete photodegradation of the adsorbed species can induce the facile reusability of these composites for multiple cycles. This work opens an avenue to introduce POMs into an MOF matrix for the simultaneous adsorption and photodegradation of antibiotics.
Keywords: antibiotics; composite materials; metal–organic frameworks; photocatalysis; polyoxometalates.