By using a controllable pillared-layer method, a novel visible-light responsive metal–organic framework (MOF) photocatalyst NNU-36 has been rationally constructed. The synthesized NNU-36 is of broad-range visible light absorption and good chemical stability which are beneficial to its application of photocatalysis. Photocatalytic experiments reveal that NNU-36 is highly efficient for Cr­(VI) reduction and dye degradation in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. Control experiments show that the pH value is vital for Cr­(VI) reaction, and meanwhile, the use of hole scavenger of methanol promotes the photocatalytic reduction significantly. It has been also demonstrated that NNU-36 is efficient for dye degradation, in which the introduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) significantly enhances the photocatalytic efficiency of dye degradation. This study illustrates that the introduction of hole scavengers or oxidants in the MOF-mediated photocatalytic reaction is a feasible approach to enhance the catalytic efficiency by suppressing the recombination of photoexcited electron–hole pairs in MOFs photocatalysts.

A visible light responsive MOF material has been constructed by the pillared-layer approach to conduct atom transfer radical polymerization. The as-prepared polymers show narrow molecular weight distribution and high retention of chain-end activity.

Series of lanthanide metal−organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs) have been solvothermally synthesized using an anthracene-derived dicarboxylate ligand. The synthesized Ln-MOFs (Ce, Tb, Dy) show characteristics of broad-band visible-light absorption and efficient photoinduced charge generation. For the first time, Ln-MOFs have been employed as visible-light photocatalysts for rhodamine B (RhB) degradation in the presence of oxidant of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Results show that these Ln-MOFs are highly efficient for visible-light-driven RhB degradation in aqueous solution. The degradation reactions show notable reaction rate constants. It is interesting to observe that the premixing between Ln-MOFs and H 2 O 2 is vital to improve photocatalytic performance, indicating the advantage of porous MOF catalysts. This study not only presents rare examples of visible-light-driven MOF photocatalysts constructed from lanthanide ions, but also reveals that the H 2 O 2 -involved advanced oxidation process is feasible for enhancing photocatalytic performance of aqueous dye degradation.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide an attractive platform for designing and synthesizing photoactive hybrid materials for photochemical reactions. We report here the utilization of a new visible-light responsive indium MOF for inducing the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methacrylate monomers, where well-designed polymers with controlled molecular weights, narrow molecular weight distribution and high retention of chain-end groups have been prepared. The kinetics study reveals that the MOFmediated ATRP shows characteristics of controlled radical polymerization (CRP). Besides, the polymerization can be easily regulated by light. Furthermore, the heterogeneous MOF can be easily recovered from the reaction and recycled for the photopolymerization. This study has involved photoactive MOFs materials into a new photochemical reaction of polymer synthesis.