Novel 3D MIL-53(Fe)/graphene aerogel composites for boosted photocatalytic ibuprofen degradation under visible light: process and mechanism

A highly efficiency process is urgently needed to remove the active pharmaceuticals contamination of water pollution. Herein, 3D MIL-53(Fe)/graphene aerogel (GMA) composites were designed to photodegrade ibuprofen (IBP) in the presence of persulfate (PS). The GMA composites exhibited high-speed electron-hole pairs transfer efficiency, higher specific surface area, excellent IBP degradation ability and easily recycling. The optimizing GMA-1 composite displayed a significant enhanced IBP photodegradation efficiency, in which the IBP degradation efficiency over GMA-1 reached closed to 100% within 60 min under visible light irradiation in the presence of PS. The effect of some vital anions were investigated. Furthermore, SO4·−, ·OH and ·O2− were identified as the main reactive species during the degradation of IBP. The photolytic degradation pathways of IBP and ecotoxicities of the intermediate products were also analyzed. This study may provide an alternative way for effectively removing IBP by 3D metal organic frameworks/graphene aerogel materials.