Photo-accelerated Hydrolysis of Metal Organic Framework ZIF-8
Mahdiar Taheri, Takuya Tsuzuki
Abstract
The stability of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is of particular importance to their applications. It has been believed that light does not affect the stability of zeolitic-imidazolate-framework-8 (ZIF-8), one of the most stable MOFs. Herein, we report for the first time that the hydrolysis-based decomposition of ZIF-8 in water is accelerated by the irradiation of UVA, UVB, and near-UV visible light. The action spectrum of photo-accelerated decomposition is identical with the optical absorption spectrum of ZIF-8, suggesting that the photo-accelerated decomposition is not due to the decomposition by-products but related to the ligand-based photo-absorption in ZIF-8. Future research directions to elucidate the cause of photo-accelerated decomposition are discussed. The findings have profound implications in the applications of MOFs that involve intentional or accidental light irradiation in aqueous environments.