Semiconducting Copper(I) Iodide 2D-Coordination Polymers for Efficient Sunlight-Driven Photocatalysis in Dye Degradation

The utilization of cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and renewable sunlight-driven photocatalysts is a promising approach for environmental remediation. There has been growing interest in utilizing semiconducting materials for this purpose. Herein, we report, two new semiconducting 2D-coordination polymers (CPs), [Cu4(μ2-I)2(μ3-I)2(μ2-L1)2]n (CP1) and [Cu2(μ2-I)2(μ2-L2)2]n (CP2), achieved from the reaction of CuI and isomeric N–S donor ligands. CP1 features Cu4I4 staircase secondary building units (SBUs), while CP2 possesses Cu2I2 rhomboid SBUs. Both CP1 and CP2 demonstrate efficient photocatalytic activity in degrading methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RHB) under sunlight. Notably, both dyes were rapidly degraded with a minimal catalyst loading. CP1 exhibits superior photocatalytic performance over CP2 because of narrower energy band gap and higher metal content, achieving a remarkable 96.75% degradation of MB in 21 min. Excellent photocatalytic performance, high stability, recyclability, and convenient synthesis make these CPs suitable for practical applications in environmental remediation.