ZnO nanorods/FeO-graphene oxide/metal-organic framework nanocomposite: recyclable and robust photocatalyst for degradation of pharmaceutical pollutants.

Nanosized semiconductors are widely utilized as solar energy based photocatalyst. However, the deficiencies such as poor adsorption toward contaminants and recyclability issues, rapid recombination of photo-introduced radicals, and deactivation by scavengers are still be the obstacle. To addressing those obstacles, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), photosensitive ZnO, and paramagnetic FeO were anchored on conductive graphene oxide (GO) to prepare a nanocomposite photocatalyst ZnO/FeO-GO/ZIF. The photocatalyst showed good robustness to scavengers of hydroxyl radicals (OH), superoxide radicals (O), and hole (h) with hydrophobic ZIF-8 modified surface. Finally, four pharmaceuticals (sulfamethazine, metronidazole, norfloxacin, and 4-acetaminophen) were degraded rapidly under simulated solar irradiation for 1 h, and the photocatalyst could be recycled at least ten times without obvious deactivation. The final results show that combination of semiconductor, graphene oxide and ZIF-8 is a good idea for construction of efficient photocatalyst. It offers new views in interface modification of nanomaterials, photocatalysis, and adsorption.