Cadmium-organic framework composites loaded with silver nanoparticles for photocatalytic CO2 cycloaddition and organic dye degradation.

A novel composite material, Cd-MOF@Ag was successfully synthesized by depositing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on the surface of Cd-MOF. The Cd-MOF and Cd-MOF@Ag were systematically characterized by using SEM, TEM, EDS, FT-IR, TG, PXRD, XPS and BET. The results confirmed that the silver nanoparticles were successfully loaded onto the surface of the MOF, and Cd-MOF@Ag exhibits excellent performance in CO2 ring addition and photocatalytic degradation of dyes. Cd-MOF@Ag shows a conversion rate of up to 99.5% for epichlorohydrin under mild conditions, and maintains high activity in four consecutive cycles. Under the presence of hydrogen peroxide, Cd-MOF@Ag can efficiently degrade Rhodamine B, basic fuchsin, and methylene blue, with degradation rates reaching 93.53%, 97.69%, and 97.58% respectively. Finally, possible mechanisms for photodegradation and photocatalysis of Cd-MOF@Ag were discussed in detail.