Confinement-enhanced stabilization and enrichment of hydroxyl radicals within Ni-based metal–organic frameworks for radiation-self-Fenton degradation of dye pollutants

A radiation-self-Fenton system without the addition of H 2 O 2 was developed for the efficient degradation of organic pollutants. We synthesized nickel-based metal–organic framework (Ni-BTC) as a catalyst for the in-situ generation of abundant hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and H 2 O 2 under X-ray excitation, and the latter was further converted to ·OH in the Fenton reaction to synergistically accelerate the Methylene blue (MB) degradation. The embedded nickel sites and confined layered structure contributed to the stabilization and enrichment of ·OH within the framework. Consequently, the system could completely decolorize 150 mL of MB (20 mg/L) by absorbing 90 Gy dose. This study provided a novel technology for wastewater treatment.