Facile synthesis of the MOF derived ZnMn2O4 nanorods for dyes degradation in water

The metal organic frameworks (MOF) derived spinel materials have attracted much interest owing to better structural behavior. In this study, we synthesized the spinel material via MOF assisted method with hydrothermal strategies to explore the photocatalytic efficiency toward photomineralization of noxious organic pollutant like rhodamine B (RhB) and crystal violet (CV). The morphological and structural characteristics of the photocatalyst were investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), indicating the nanorod morphology and tetragonal crystal system, respectively. The Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) methodology measured the surface area of ZMO (56.45 m3 g−1) that indirectly controls the photocatalytic behavior of the photocatalyst. Moreover, the photocatalytic efficacy of the fabricated photocatalyst is measured with ultra-visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis.) for rhodamine B (RhB) and crystal violet. The prepared spinel shows a 94.25% photocatalytic efficiency toward the mineralization of rhodamine B than crystal violet (CV, 90.52%). The obtained rate constant (k) for RhB and CV are 0.029 and 0.01 min−1, respectively. The scavenger analysis also revealed that photoinduced reactive species such as electrons (e−) and holes (h+) play a substantial role in the degradation of model pollutant. The stability analysis suggests that the ZMO nanorods exhibited excellent stable structural and morphological behavior. Thus, the current studies provide a path toward developing a metal oxide produced from MOFs for the use of photocatalytic removal of a wide range of organic pollutants.