Synthesis of an efficient MOF catalyst for the degradation of OPDs using TPA derived from PET waste bottles

Hossein Yarahmadi; Sultan K Salamah; Marwan Kheimi

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-46635-6

Synthesis of an efficient MOF catalyst for the degradation of OPDs using TPA derived from PET waste bottles

Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 6;13(1):19136. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-46635-6.

Authors

Hossein Yarahmadi¹, Sultan K Salamah², Marwan Kheimi³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Sirjan University of Technology, Sirjan, Iran. hyarahmadi61@gmail.com.
² Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Taibah University, P.O. Box 30002, 41447, Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering-Rabigh Branch, King Abdulaziz University, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

In this study, a method for degrading PET-waste plastic bottles using ZnCl₂:Urea as a catalyst was developed, resulting in high conversion (87%). The terephthalic acid obtained from the degradation of Waste PET Bottles (WPTs) was combined with copper and zinc salts to synthesize bimetallic metal-organic frameworks (MOF). The effectiveness of a bimetallic Cu-Zn(BDC)-MOF in catalyzing the reduction reaction of organic pollutant dyes (OPDs) was investigated, and the degradation efficiency of individual dyes was optimized, achieving over 95% degradation within 6-12 min under optimal conditions. Various techniques, including FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDS, and TEM were used to characterize the synthesized MOF. Results showed that the catalytic activity of Cu-Zn-MOF in reduction reaction of OPDs was enhanced by increasing the copper content. The reaction kinetics were investigated following pseudo-first-order kinetics with rate constants of 0.581, 0.43, 0.37, and 0.30 min^-1 for Methylene Blue (MB), Methyl Orange (MO), 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP), and 4-Nitroaniline (4-NA), respectively. The investigations revealed that the produced catalyst exhibited excellent stability and recoverability, while its activity remained well-preserved even after undergoing three reuse cycles.