Co-MOF 74 decorated with Eu for UV/Visible assisted photocatalytic removal of lufenuron pesticide from aqueous medium

Abstract

Widespread use of pesticide has demanded their efficient removal from the environment. Co-MOF 74 and Eu/Co-MOF 74 were synthesized using hydrothermal procedure and characterized by XRD, TGA, FTIR, SEM and UV–visible techniqes. Process parameters for pesticide removal i.e., initial pesticide concentration, contact time, temperature and pH were optimized. The photocatalytic performance reached up to 97 % in only 75 min with 0.05 g of composite at pH 9. The characterization revealed that prepared MOFs has significantly higher electron-hole separation potential and faster charge carrier migration for photocatalysis of lufenuron. Recovery and reusability of photocatalyst were also studied. Degradation of lufenuron occurred in 31.5 min in the presence of Eu/Co-MOF74 as compared to 46.2 min recorded in the presence of Co-MOF74 under visible light. Under Ultraviolet irradiation the half life of lufenuron with Eu/Co-MOF74 was 27.49 min as compared to 69.36 min observed with Co MOF74. A high temperature favored the degradation of Lufenuron as is evident by its 97 % degradation at a temperature of 373 K. These results depict that Eu/Co MOF-74 has significant efficiency for photodegradation of lufenuron under UV light. The potential of this material may also be explored for the degradation of other persistent organic pollutants from water bodies.