Photocatalytic Dye Degradation by ZIF-8@BiVO4 Composite

Abstract

In this research, we investigate the photocatalytic degradation of Congo Red (CR) dye using a novel composite material composed of ZIF-8 and BiVO4 (BVO). The synergistic interaction between ZIF-8 and BVO significantly enhances charge transfer at the interface, thereby reducing electron-hole recombination and substantially boosting photocatalytic efficiency. Characterization of the composite was performed using Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), UV-Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). Photocatalytic experiments revealed that the Z/BVO-25 composite achieves 94.37% degradation of CR dye under sunlight within 90 minutes, outperforming ZIF-8 (80.74%) and BVO (60.4%) alone. Additionally, the composite demonstrated remarkable stability and reusability, maintaining 86.3% of its initial efficiency after four cycles. This study highlights the potential of integrating photocatalysts with Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to significantly enhance photocatalytic performance.