Amino-functionalized MIL-88B as heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalysts for enhancing tris-(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) degradation: Dual excitation pathways accelerate the conversion of Fe to Fe under visible light irradiation.

In this work, the amino-functionalized metal-organic frameworks (MIL-88B-NH) was synthesized, characterized and used as heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalyst for tris-(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) degradation. The photo-Fenton activity of MIL-88B-NH was investigated on the basis of influence factors, such as initial pH and TCPP concentration, and coexisting impurities. The results revealed that MIL-88B-NH+HO+Vis system exhibited a satisfactory degradation efficiency of TCPP (almost 100%) within 60 min accompanied by a good reusability. Noticeably, the degradation kinetics constant of TCPP by MIL-88B-NH+HO+Vis system was 0.086 min, which was visibly higher than that of MIL-88B+HO+Vis system (0.021 min) since the addition of amino-functionalized organic linker inhibiting the recombination rate of the photo-generated electron-hole pairs and improving the visible light response. Combined with the characterization, the conversion of Fe to Fe could be accelerated by the photo-generated electron from the excitation of Fe-O clusters and NH functionalities, which strengthened the decomposition of HO and formed plenty •OH. Simultaneously, six steady products were validated and potential degradation pathways of TCPP were proposed. It was anticipated that MIL-88B-NH could be considered as a desirable and alternative candidate in the application of heterogeneous photo-Fenton reaction to control the environmental risks caused by organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs).