Improved Catalytic Fenton-Like Degradation of Methyl Violet Dye at Neutral pH Using the Encapsulated Tris(acetylacetonato) Iron(III) Complex inside the Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8

In this work, a new catalyst with high Fenton-like behavior was synthesized by heterogenizing the inexpensive tris(acetylacetonato)iron(III) complex (Fe(acac)₃) into the micropores of ZIF-8 through the facile bottle-around-the-ship approach, which is the first example of encapsulating iron complexes in ZIF-8 micropores for water remediation. The dodecahedron shape and XRD pattern of Fe(acac)₃@ZIF-8 catalyst were similar to those of pure ZIF-8, but with the difference that the specific surface area, pore volume, and average pore diameter were decreased as the MOF pores were occupied by this complex. The catalytic degradation of methyl violet 2B (MV) dye was efficiently performed in the presence of Fe(acac)₃@ZIF-8 catalyst via the Fenton-like process using hydrogen peroxide as a hydroxyl radical source. The degradation rate of Fe(acac)₃@ZIF-8 catalyst was found to be 2.3 and 1.3 times greater than ZIF-8 and Fe(acac)₃ complex separately, showing that the cooperation between zinc(II) and iron(III) can result in enhanced hydroxyl radical formation and, consequently, increased MV degradation.