A Visible Light-Responsive Mixed-Valence Bimetallic Eu–Zr MOF-Based Nanoarchitecture toward Efficacious H2O2 and H2 Production

Abstract

A mixed-valence bimetallic Eu/Zr MOF has been fabricated via a one-step solvothermal method by incorporating Eu³⁺ ions into the Zr-MOF, thereby making a single-component photocatalyst that can be utilized toward robust photon utilization from the visible light spectrum for the photocatalytic production of green energy like H₂ and H₂O₂. The one-step synthesized bimetallic Eu/Zr-MOF exhibits more visible light captivation properties along with improved charge carrier separation, confined band gap, and excellent ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) because of the existence of an interconvertible Eu³⁺/Eu²⁺ ion pair compared with the pristine MOF counterparts. The addition of Eu ions directed to an upsurge in the electron density around Zr⁴⁺ ion, as seen from XPS analysis. Moreover, the introduction of Eu³⁺ enhanced the exciton segregation, as seen from PL and EIS analyses, thereby leading to superior catalytic performances. An increased photocatalytic H₂ generation efficacy of 331.26 μmol h^–1 (ACE = 2.42%) was demonstrated by the synthesized EZUNH-2 MOF, which is approximately three times greater than pristine MOFs. As a result, the bimetallic EZUNH-2 MOF can be easily utilized as a robust photocatalyst that has increased inclinations to produce H₂O₂ at 35.2 μmol h^–1, around 4 times more than that of the parent material. Consequently, the one-pot synthesized bimetallic MOF paves a suitable mechanistic pathway for paramount performance toward photocatalytic H₂O₂ and H₂ production.