Titanium-Based Metal-Organic Framework/TiO2 Composite for Degradation of Dyes Under Solar Light Irradiation

We prepared titanium dioxide nanoparticles-decorated amine-functionalized titanium-based metal-organic framework (TiO2@NH2-MIL-125(Ti)) composite by a simple method for the photodegradation of bromophenol blue and crystal violet dyes. The prepared composite was confirmed by various analytical techniques. The composite exhibited higher bromophenol blue dye degradation (95%) under sunlight compared to bare NH2-MIL-125(Ti) (56%). Similarly, the composite photodegraded 96% of crystal violet dye compared to pure MOF (65%). The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the composite could be due to the high light-harvesting ability and efficient separation of charges. The reactive oxygen species study indicated that superoxide anion radicals were the primary source for the photodegradation. There was no significant loss of the photocatalytic activity, even after four repeated cycles. This work confirms that metal-organic framework-based composites can be used as efficient photocatalysts for environmental remediation.