The fabrication of photocatalysts
with preferable degradation ability
is critical to purify wastewater. MIL-53(Fe), as a representative
Fe-based metal–organic framework (Fe-MOF), has been widely
used in photocatalysis due to its excellent intrinsic characteristics.
However, the inadequate electron number in MIL-53(Fe) has restricted
the ability of photodegradation of organic pollutants. Herein, desirable,
energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly MIL-53(Fe)/Sn3O4 nanosheet photocatalysts were first constructed by
the solvothermal method. The characterization results indicated that
the MIL-53(Fe)/Sn3O4-5 (5 wt % Sn3O4) catalyst exhibited optimal photoelectric properties
and maintained a relatively regular morphology. Moreover, the prepared
MIL-53(Fe)/Sn3O4-5 exhibited preferable photodegradation
ability for dyes and antibiotics under visible light, and the maximum
photodegradation capacity for malachite green, methylene blue, tetracycline,
ciprofloxacin, and ofloxacin could reach 96.9, 88.2, 70.3, 83.5, and
88.1%, respectively. The initial pH, photocatalyst dosage, and initial
concentration were comprehensively investigated for degrading malachite
green. In addition, we also explored the prepared catalyst for the
removal of malachite green from different actual wastewater samples.
After three cycles, the degradation efficiency of malachite green
by MIL-53(Fe)/Sn3O4-5 decreased very little,
exhibiting good reuse performance. The enhanced photodegradation efficiency
of MIL-53(Fe)/Sn3O4-5 could be attributed to
the construction of heterojunctions derived from a compact joint interface
between Sn3O4 and Fe-MOF, which expedited the
separation ability of photogenerated carriers and broadened the visible
response range. The active species trapping experiments and electron
spin-resonance results determined that many active species (h+, •OH, and •O2
–) were involved in the photocatalytic process. Correspondingly, a
convincible photodegradation mechanism between Sn3O4 and MIL-53(Fe) was proposed according to the experimental
results. This study demonstrates that the fabricated Sn3O4 and MOF composites can provide a feasible solution
for the purification of wastewater.