Fabrication of CuWO4@MIL-101 (Fe) nanocomposite for efficient OER and photodegradation of methylene blue

Mariam Khan; Muhammad Mahboob Ahmed; Muhammad Nadeem Akhtar; Muhammad Sajid; Nagina Naveed Riaz; Muhammad Asif; Muhammad Kashif; Bushra Shabbir; Khalil Ahmad; Muhammad Saeed; Maryam Shafiq; Tayyaba Shabir

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40546

Fabrication of CuWO₄@MIL-101 (Fe) nanocomposite for efficient OER and photodegradation of methylene blue

Heliyon. 2024 Nov 20;10(23):e40546. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40546. eCollection 2024 Dec 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan.
² Department of Chemistry, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, 32200, Pakistan.
³ Department of Chemistry, Division of Science & Technology, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Emerson University, Multan, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of Management and Technology: Lahore, Sialkot Campus, Pakistan.
⁶ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan.
⁷ Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Pakistan.

Abstract

The development of an efficient catalyst to meet the world^'s increasing energy demand and eliminate organic pollutants in water, is a concern of current researchers. In this article, a highly effective composite has been synthesized using the solvothermal approach, by incorporating CuWO₄ nanoparticles into Fe-based MOF, Fe (BDC). The synthesized samples were analyzed further by some characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy. The highest catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction was observed in the CuWO₄@MIL-101(Fe) composite, which exhibited low overpotential 188 mV to obtained the current density of 10 mA cm^-2, and a smaller Tafel slope of 40 mV dec^-1. The nanocomposite CuWO₄@MIL-101(Fe) material showed enhanced visible light absorption and maximum degradation of methylene blue up to 96.92 %. It has been found that this research promotes the development of an efficient MOF-based catalyst for OER and photocatalytic technology.

Keywords: CuWO4@MIL-101(Fe); Nanocomposite; Oxygen evolution reaction; Photodegradation of dye; Water splitting.