Synthesis of Lanthanum metal-organic frameworks (La-MOFs) as degradation photocatalyst of Rhodamine-B

Abstract

Nowadays, waste becomes an increasingly serious problem for the environment, especially industrial waste. Dye Rhodamine-B is an example of industrial waste that is dangerous and difficult to degrade in the ecosystem. Dye photodegradation using photocatalysts is a promising alternative to reduce the amount of dye waste in the environment, especially in waters. However, a photocatalyst needed is the one which stable, efficient, and environmentally friendly to degrade persistent organic pollutants. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) as a new functional material that can be potential photocatalyst due to good thermal stability, as well as tunable surface properties. In this study, 2 types of Lanthanum-MOFs were selected to be synthesized with ligand variations, namely 1,4-Benzene dicarboxylic acid (BDC) and 2,6-Naphthalene dicarboxylic acid (NDC) using the solvothermal method. Characterization of Lanthanum-MOFs was carried out using FTIR, XRD, Surface Area Analyzer (BET), spectrophotometer UV-DRS, as well as SEM instrumentation. Peroxide acid- advanced oxidation process (AOP) was used in photocatalytic applications of La-MOFs. The degradation efficiency (% degradation) of rhodamine-b for 120 min using La-BDC MOFs and La-NDC MOFs for each photocatalyst was 69.47 % and 89.3 %, respectively.