Construction of MOF/TiO2 nanocomposites with efficient visible-light-driven photocathodic protection

The photocathodic protection is a promising technology for corrosion protection by utilizing the solar energy. Herein, a typical metal-organic framework (MOF), NH2-MIL-125 is introduced to construct MOF/semiconductor heterostructure via a simple two-step method. The composites, based both on TiO2 nanotubes and coatings, exhibit improved photocathodic protection performance under visible light irradiation. The results reveal that the NH2-MIL-125/TiO2 heterojunction significantly suppresses the recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs, ultimately achieves efficient photocathodic protection for 304SS. This research highlights the superiority of the MOF/semiconductor composites on the photocathodic protection and the universality of decorating MOF on different TiO2 structures. [Display omitted] •NH2-MIL-125/TiO2 photoanodes were prepared by a simple two-step method.•Transfer efficiency of electron-hole pairs were facilitated under visible light.•Promoted and stable photocathodic protection for 304SS was realized.