Persistent Luminescent Nanoparticle-Coated Metal–Organic Frameworks for Round-the-Clock Photocatalytic Degradation of Pollutants

Abstract

Round-the-clock photocatalysts based on persistent luminescent nanoparticles (PLNPs) have great potential for water treatment and energy conservation, with continuous photocatalytic activity even at night or under dark conditions. However, their round-the-clock photocatalytic efficiency is still not high enough owing to the short persistent luminescence time, the low specific surface area, and the fast recombination rate of the light-generated e − /h + pairs. Furthermore, no PLNP combinations with metal− organic frameworks (MOFs) for photocatalytic application have been reported as of yet. Here, we report a round-the-clock composite photocatalyst based on Zn 3 Ga 2 Ge 2 O 10 :0.5% Mn combined with NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe) via covalent bonding for the photo-degradation of RhB and the photo-reduction of Cr(VI). The PLNPs/MOFs composite photocatalyst exhibits high photocatalytic activity in the dark for more than 12 h due to the long afterglow time of more than 16 days of Zn 3 Ga 2 Ge 2 O 10 /0.5% Mn, the efficient persistent luminescence resonance energy transfer between PLNPs and MOFs, the large specific surface area of MOFs, the large number of active transition metal sites of MOFs, and the decrease of the photogenerated e − /h + pair binding rate. The combination of PLNPs/MOFs provides a strategy for developing highly efficient round-the-clock photocatalysts, which offer great potential in environmental protection and utilization of solar energy.

Host–Guest Metal–Organic Frameworks-Based Long-Afterglow Luminescence Materials

“…He et al [83] functionalized the surfaces of PLNPs (Zn3Ga2Ge2O10/0.5% Mn), then stirred them with NH2-MIL-101 (Fe) in an aqueous solution to obtain PLNPs/MOF composite materials. This material is formed by covalent bonding between Zn3Ga2Ge2O10/Mn and NH2-MIL101 (Fe), with an afterglow time of over 16 days.…”

“…Long-afterglow MOF materials have broad application prospects in sensing [83,86], displays [87], information security [88,89], biomedicine [90], photocatalysis [91] and other fields. Due to the advantages of host-guest afterglow MOF materials, such as the luminescent properties of the guest material and the porous channels of the host MOF material, the host-guest combination leads to longer or multi-color luminescence, making it highly advantageous for applications.…”

PLNPs/SCN heterojunction composites with a green afterglow for photocatalytic hydrogen production

“…16 These characteristics are important in various fields, such as safety signage, 17 glow-in-the-dark products, 18 environmental monitoring, 19 and biomedical applications. 20 In recent years, composite photocatalytic materials based on PLNPs were developed, such as CaAl 2 O 4 :Eu 2+ , Nd 3+ @TiO 2 , 20 Zn 3 Ga 2 Ge 2 O 10 /0.5%Mn/NH 2 -MIL-101(Fe), 21 Sr 2 MgSi 2 O 7 :Eu 2+ , Dy 3+ /Ag 3 PO 4 , 22 CaAl 2 O 4 :Eu 2+ , Nd 3+ ,g-C 3 N 4 QDs, 23 La 2 MgTiO 6 :Eu 2+ /TiO 2 , 24 SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 2+ , Dy 3+ /CdS, 25 Sr 2 MgSi 2 O 7 :Eu 2+ , Dy 3+ /BiVO 4 , 26 Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 :Eu, and Dy@ZnO:Co-Ag 27 for photocatalytic pollutant degradation and BiFeO 3 /Ag/Sr 2 MgSi 2 O 7 :Eu 2+ , Dy 3+ /Ag, 28 g-C 3 N 4 @Au@SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 2+ , Dy 3+29 , Sr 2 MgSi 2 O 7 :Eu 2+ , and Dy 3+ /Ag 3 PO 4 30 for photolysis of water to create hydrogen. These composite materials not only enhance the photocatalytic performance but also enable round-the-clock photocatalytic reactions via their afterglow emission properties.…”