The development of
broad-spectrum ultraviolet- and visible-light
photocatalysts constitutes one of the most significant challenges
in the field of photocatalytic pollutant removal. Here, the efficiency
of the directly prepared nitrogen-doped quantum zeolitic imidazolate
framework (ZIF)-8-dot catalyst for the photocatalytic degradation
of the methylene blue dye was reported. The prepared catalysts were
characterized using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray diffraction,
ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy,
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy,
Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques.
Under sunlight irradiation, the 1% nitrogen-doped quantum-ZIF-8-dot
catalyst showed 75% photodegradation in half an hour and ≈93%
photodegradation after 3 hours compared to ≈87% for the ZIF-8
metal–organic framework. The high performance of the 1% nitrogen-doped
quantum-ZIF-8-dot catalyst was attributed to the synergism between
the catalyst components, upconverted fluorescence property of nitrogen-doped
quantum dots, and charge (electrons–holes) separation. The
reactive radical test revealed that the hydroxyl radical was dominant.
The step-scheme heterojunction mechanism for photocatalytic degradation
was also deduced. The kinetic study through the photocatalytic isotherms
revealed that the pseudo-first-order kinetic model can describe the
reaction mechanism.