Manifestation of Cu-MOF-templated TiO2 nanocomposite for synergistic photoreduction of CO2 to methanol production

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) comprised of metal ions and organic linkers exhibit large internal surface areas and pore volumes in order to create a supramolecular network-like structure. Current work deals with the synthesis of two different MOFs containing copper or nickel metals with benzene tricarboxylic acid (BTC) organic linker [Cu-BTC-MOF (1), Ni-BTC-MOF (2)] and two TiO2 immobilized MOF materials [TiO2@Cu-BTC-MOF (3) and TiO2@Ni-BTC-MOF (4)]. Synthesized four catalysts have been characterized by various spectroscopic techniques (SEM, XPS, single-crystal, BET surface analysis, FT-IR, UV–Vis DRS, and XRD). The results supported that the formation of frameworks octahedral geometry with chemical formula Cu(BTC)3·H2O and the immobilization of TiO2 on synthesized MOFs (1–4) have been confirmed. These synthesized catalysts 3 has demonstrated a significant yield ~ 4000 μmolg−1 when compared with recent reports with exceptional selectivity for photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol (MeOH).