Catechol-formaldehyde resin microspheres@UiO-66-NH2@ CdS core-shell nanohybrids as robust visible-light photocatalyst for multifunctional applications

Well-defined zirconium based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) coated polymer core-shell nanohybrid (CFR@MOF) was constructed using catechol formaldehyde resin (CFR) microspheres as a support, followed by encapsulating CdS nanoparticles (NPs) into MOF (UiO-66-NH2) shell layers to obtain CFR@UiO-66-NH2@CdS nanohybrids to enhance visible photosensitization for multifunctional photocatalytic applications including organic pollutant degradation, water disinfection and photoinduced atomic transfer radical polymerization (photoATRP). The CFR microspheres with a regular spherical morphology (200–400 nm) provided a versatile initial platform for the growth of MOF shells through mononuclear coating. The impact of different loadings of CdS NPs incorporated into CFR@UiO-66-NH2 shells on photocatalytic performance was systematically investigated. CFR@UiO-66-NH2 @CdS demonstrated robust dye degradation and antibacterial ability. Especially, a remarkable inhibitory efficiency of 99.99 % and 99.7 % was achieved for S. aureus and E. coli, with a low photocatalyst dosage (100 μg/mL) under visible light. Furthermore, by combining CFR@UiO-66-NH2@CdS with CuBr2/L catalysts, a high-efficiency red-light triggered photoredox catalytic polymerization system was established in photoinduced atom transfer radical polymerization (photoATRP), achieving high conversion rate (>90 %) for various monomers in a short time.