Designed synthesis of a series of zwitterion-polyoxometalate hybrid materials for selective scavenging and photolysis of dyes.

Zwitterions and polyoxometalates (POMs) are two kinds of functional moieties with very different properties for applications in different fields. We have developed an effective strategy to successfully immobilize these two different moieties into the frameworks of porous hybrid materials, in which the POM units act as templates and photoactive moieties. These hybrid materials demonstrate remarkable efficiency for selective scavenging and photolysis of cationic dyes from polluted water, and up to 10% dye uptake and quantitative photolysis of dyes have been realized.