Carbon nanotube based metal-organic framework nanocomposites: Synthesis and their photocatalytic activity for decolorization of colored wastewater

Herein, Materials Institute Lavoisier (MIL-125(Ti))/carbon nanotube (CNT) nanoporous composites (MIL/CNT) were synthesized by hydrothermal method. Different amounts of CNT (0.01 g and 0.03 g) were used to synthesize nanocomposites (denoted as MIL/CNT(0.01) and MIL/CNT(0.03), respectively). The synthesized nanomaterials (MIL, MIL/CNT(0.01) and MIL/CNT(0.03)) were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TGA, BET, SEM, and zeta potential and used for photocatalytic dye degradation. Reactive Black 5 (RB5) was used as a model pollutant. The zeta potential of MIL and MIL/CNT (0.01) were −27.7 mV and 19.2 mV, respectively. The data showed that that MIL/CNT(0.01) nanocomposite had higher photocatalytic dye degradation due to the synergistic effect of CNT. Dye decolorization by the nanomaterials followed the zero-order kinetics reaction. The decolorization rate was 0.0015, 0.0019, 0.0024 mg/L min for MIL, MIL/CNT(0.01) and MIL/CNT(0.03), with the correlation coefficient of 0.9639, 0.9906, and 0.9757, respectively. The synthesized catalysts were reusable over two cycles.