Monodispersed Ag nanoparticles deposited on Ni-based coordination polymer composite with enhanced photocatalytic degradation for bisphenol A

Exploring effective methods to improve photoresponse and charge separation efficiency is the key to preparing high-performance photocatalysts. A novel Ni-based coordination polymer, namely {[Ni(TIPA)2]center dot 2Ac center dot 6 H2O}n (Ni-TIPA), was designed and synthesized hydrothermally using the ligand tri-(4-imidazole phenyl) amine (TIPA). The metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) of Ni-TIPA is visually demonstrated by theoretical calculations as the key to enhanced charge separation efficiency. A series of novel silver-deposited Ni-TIPA composites (Ag@Ni-TIPA-X, X = 1, 2, 3) and excellent light-driven photocatalytic activity were prepared using a simple photore-duction method at room temperature. The prepared Ag@Ni-TIPA-2 composite had excellent photocatalytic performance for degrading bisphenol A (BPA) under ultraviolet light irradiation. The excellent photocatalytic performance might be attributed to MLCT and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Ag nanoparticles, which improved hole-electron separation capability, and the formation of Schottky junctions. The intermediates in the BPA degradation process were further predicted and analyzed by electrostatic potential (ESP), orbital-weighted dual descriptor (ODD), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technologies, and the possible degradation mechanisms were deduced deeply. The work as a new reference might be provided for the efficient optimization of photocatalysts for BPA degradation.