PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF CuBDC AND UiO-66 MOFs FOR METHYL ORANGE DEGRADATION

Dyes used in textile industry contained organic compounds that cause water pollution. Photodegradation is a common method applied for dyes treatment in wastewater. Metal oxides had been widely used as photocatalyst for organic pollutant degradation in water. However, metal oxides exhibit wide band gap and fast charge (hole and electron) recombination time which decrease the photocatalytic activity. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) has been developed as an alternative photocatalyst that could decrease the recombination time and lower the band gap. Copper and zirconium-based MOFs with 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic (BDC) linker known as CuBDC and UiO-66, respectively, were used as photocatalyst for the degradation of methyl orange (MO). The photocatalytic activity of CuBDC and UiO-66 was investigated by determining the degradation rate of MO under visible and UV light. CuBDC and UiO-66 were successfully synthesized by solvothermal method and characterized by Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD) to identify the phase and UV-Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectra (UV-vis DRS) to determine the band gap. The degradation percentage of MO with CuBDC under visible and UV light were 3.6 and 3.3 %, respectively, while the degradation percentage of MO with UiO-66 under visible and UV light were 6.6 % and 36.4 % in 40 min reaction. UiO-66 exhibited a better photocatalytic activity than CuBDC for the degradation of MO under visible and UV light.