Three silver coordination polymers constructed from 4,4'-bipyridine-like ligands and 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylic acid: crystal structure and photocatalytic performances

Xiangjie Li, Ang Liu, Xue-Dong Du, Fu-Xue Wang, Chong-Chen Wang*

Beijing Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Building Structure and Environment Remediation, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China

Abstract

Three coordination polymers (CPs), [Ag(bpy)]₂(tdc)·4H₂O (BUC-78), [Ag(bpe)]₂(tdc)·6H₂O (BUC-79) and [Ag(bpp)]₂(tdc)·8H₂O (BUC-80) have been synthesized from the reaction between AgNO₃, 4,4'-bispyridine (bpy)/1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe)/1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane (bpp) and 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylic acid (tdc) via slow evaporation method at room temperature. The structure of this series of CPs were thoroughly studied, revealing all three CPs are built up of 1D infinite cationic [Ag(L)] chains interspersed with discrete deprotonated tdc^2- counter-ions. These three CPs exhibit good photocatalytic performances towards typical organic pollutants like MB and RhB, in which 96%, 92% and 97% MB could be degraded with BUC-78, BUC-79 and BUC-80 as photocatalysts under UV light irradiation within 120 min. The possible photocatalytic mechanisms were proposed via active species capture experiments. 

Keywords: Coordination polymers, crystal structure, photocatalysis, organic dyes, mechanism