A new Cu(II) metal–organic architecture driven by ether-bridged dicarboxylate: Photocatalytic properties and Hirshfeld surface analysis

Abstract A new Cu(II) coordination polymer with formula {[Cu(L)(bbi)(H2O)]•H2O}n (1) (H2L = 1,3-bis(3ˊ-carboxylatophenoxy)benzene, bbi = 1,1′-(1,4-butanediyl)bis(imidazole)), has been prepared and characterized using microanalysis, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. The polymer 1 possess 1D double chain, which further extends into 2D layer through packing and hydrogen bond interactions. The polymer has been used as an effective photocatalyst for the photodisintegration of aromatic dyes viz. methyl violet (MV), Rhodamine B (Rh B) and methylene blue (MB). The results suggest that 1 is best photocatalyst for MB and decomposed 84.14% MB in 100 min following pseudo-first order reaction with rate constant k 0.01873 min−1. Furthermore, the possible photocatalytic mechanism exhibited by 1 for the catalytic degradation of MB was proposed using the trapping experiments and LC-MS methodology which suggested that ·OH is the main reactive oxygen species involved in photodecomposition of MB. In addition, band gap calculations and Hirshfeld surface analysis have been done to substantiate the photocatalytic mechanism.