The Effect of Isomorphic Metal Substitution on the Fenton and Photo-Fenton Degradation of Methylene Blue using Fe-based Metal-Organic Frameworks

The removal of toxic organic compounds (TOCs) using highly porous solids such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has gained significant attention over the past decade. In this study, it has been demonstrated that the efficiency of PCN-250 as a heterogeneous catalyst (PCN = Porous Coordination Network) for both Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions can be improved by the isomorphic substitution of Mn and Co for Fe, while it can be inhibited by the substitution of Ni for Fe. Furthermore, the Mn substituted sample named PCN-250(Fe2Mn) decomposed 100% of Methylene Blue (MB) in solution in under 300 min and displays good recyclability over 3 cycles. This work establishes that the highly-porous, commercially available and robust family of MOFs named PCN-250 has the potential to be used as catalysts for Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions as well as broader Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) for water purification applications. Overall, this work successfully demonstrates the ability to not only perform isomorphic sub...