Sonochemical Assisted Synthesis of Cr-PTC Metal Organic Framework, ZnO, and Fe₃O₄ Composite and Their Photocatalytic Activity in Methylene Blue Degradation

Methylene blue pollutants can be treated by photocatalytic methods using metal oxide-based semiconductor materials and metal organic framework (MOF). These two materials are often coupled into a composite to improve their physicochemical properties and catalytic activity. This research focuses on the synthesis of composites based on Cr-PTC MOF, ZnO, and Fe₃O₄ by the sonochemical method. The obtained composites were characterized and tested for catalytic activity in methylene blue pollutant degradation in an aqueous system under acidic conditions (pH = 5). Our investigation shows that the Cr-PTC@Fe₃O₄ composite possesses the lowest band gap energy of 1.86 eV and achieves the highest photocatalytic activity in methylene blue degradation at solution pH = 5, with a percent degradation of 84.36%. The sonochemical incorporation of Fe₃O₄ and Cr-PTC MOF is able to fabricate materials in a short time with better photocatalytic activity in degrading methylene blue than the single materials.