Enhancing Photocatalytic Performance of NH 2-UIO66 by Defective Structural Engineering

摘要

NH_(2)-UIO66(NU)is a promising photocatalyst for the reduction of Cr(VI)to low-toxic Cr(III)driven by visible light under ambient conditions.However,the main limitation in this process is the ineffi cient ligand to metal charge transfer(LMCT)of photo-excited electrons,which is caused by inherent energy gap(ΔE_(LMCT)).This study synthesized the defective NU(NUXH,where X is the molar equivalent of the modulator)with reducedΔE_(LMCT)through linkers removal via acid treatment.The electronic structure of NUX-H was systematically investigated,and the results indicated that the structural defects in NUX-H strongly altered the environment of the Zr atoms.Furthermore,they substantially lowered the energy of the unoccupied d orbitals(LUMO),which was benefi cial to effi cient LMCT,resulting in an improved photocatalytic activity of NUX-H toward high-concentration(100 mg/L)Cr(VI)reduction.Compared to NU with defect-free structure,the reducing rate of Cr(VI)was increased by 47 times.This work introduced an alternative strategy in terms of designing effi cient photocatalysts for reducing Cr(VI)under ambient conditions.