MOF Derived Porous ZnO/C Nanocomposites for Efficient Dye Photodegradation

Homogeneously dispersed crystalline ZnO nanoparticles embedded in a porous carbon matrix were synthesized via a one-step carbonization of porous metal–organic framework MOF-5 at 800 and 1000 °C in different gas atmospheres. The resulting ZnO/C nanocomposites generally retain cubic particle morphology and high specific surface area of the precursor MOF-5. Various characterization techniques, including XRD, SEM, TEM, elemental mapping, Raman, FTIR, and XPS, confirmed that the carbonization of MOF-5 in water vapor atmosphere produced homogeneously dispersed ZnO nanoparticles confined within the functionalized porous carbon matrix. The rich oxygen-containing hydrophilic functional groups on the surface of the nanocomposite, the defects in the carbon-doped ZnO nanostructure, the crystalline ZnO nanoparticles, and the high textural properties resulted in excellent methylene blue adsorption and photodegradation performance under visible light irradiation. This simple and environmentally friendly approach can be further employed to harvest a variety of new homogeneously dispersed functional metal oxide/carbon composites for various environment and energy related applications.