Toward efficient removal of organic pollutants in water: A tremella-like iron containing metal-organic framework in Fenton oxidation

The treatment of wastewater containing organic pollutants has become a serious issue, and one of the advanced oxidation process, Fenton oxidation is recognized as an ideal way owing to its universality and environmental friendliness, thus efficient and economic catalysts are in great demand. Herein by incorporating Fe2+ containing compound as ligand, a tremella-like iron containing metal-organic framework (TFMOF) was synthesized with zirconium acetate and 1,1 '-ferrocene-dicarboxylic acid though a facile solvothermal method. The TFMOF combined the merits of both ferrocene moiety with well dispersed Fe2+ sites in the molecular level and MOF films with large surface areas and exposed sites. And the morphology and crystal structure of TFMOF were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Moreover, employed as an effective catalyst in Fenton oxidation, over 99%, 95% and 97% of rhodamine B, methyl orange and reactive black V were rapidly degraded without the assistance of additional irradiation, and degradation conditions like pH, H2O2 and initial pollutant concentrations as well as the reaction kinetic was investigated, indicating the hydroxyl radical generated in the presence of TFMOF and H2O2 was able to degrade the pollutants into non-toxic molecular. Besides, the catalytic activity of TFMOF maintained well after three cycles. The good activity and universality of TFMOF make it a promising catalyst for the treatment of wastewater.