Silicotungstic acid supported on Bi-based MOF-derived metal oxide for photodegradation of organic dyes

In this article, Bi-based metal–organic framework-supported silicotungstic acid (STA) was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method and used as a precursor for the preparation of the Bi-based MOF-derived catalyst (STA@C-Bi-BDC). Using a combination of FTIR, XRD, SEM-EDS, N2 adsorption–desorption, TG, UV-Vis DRS, and XPS techniques, the successful immobilization of STA groups on Bi-MOF-derived C-Bi-BDC was assessed. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared catalysts was investigated in the degradation of the RhB dye process under visible light. Within 120 min of visible light exposure, the high degradation rate of RhB (92.7%) by STA@C-Bi-BDC system was achieved, which was a lot larger than the STA (39.4%), C-Bi-BDC (59.2%), and STA@Bi-BDC (74.0%) system, and cyclic experiments exhibit that the STA@C-Bi-BDC is a relatively stable photocatalyst. More importantly, the catalyst shows high applicability for the degradation of other dyes. This study reveals a comprehensive strategy for the design of efficient Bi-based MOF-derived photocatalyst for organic dye-based wastewater treatment.