Upcycling Expanded Polystyrene Waste for Photocatalytic Degradation of Textile Dyes

Globally, the textile industry is considered a major contributor to the development of a country’s progress. However, the improper disposal of colored wastewater into streams leads to serious environmental damage. The increasing discharge of colored dyes from textile industries poses significant challenges due to their chemical stability and resistance to degradation. In response, this study presents the synthesis and photocatalytic investigation of an iron-based metal–organic framework (Fe-MOF) embedded in waste expanded polystyrene (EPS) for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye. The synthesized Fe-MOF was uniformly dispersed in a clear EPS-tetrahydrofuran solution to design a composite. The photocatalytic performance of unmodified EPS and Fe-MOF-EPS was assessed by exposing them to standard MB dye solutions, separately under dark, indoor daylight, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) equipped chamber. UV–Vis spectroscopy was used to monitor dye degradation upon exposure to the Fe-MOF-EPS composite in different lighting conditions. The Fe-MOF-EPS composite exhibited superior photocatalytic performance in all three cases, mainly under LEDs than plain EPS, showing its suitability for the degradation of MB. This work presents a facile, sustainable, and effective strategy for recycling non-biodegradable EPS waste into functional photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation. Moreover, the study also aims to highlight the potential of MOF composites with EPS in advanced wastewater treatment applications targeting organic dye pollutants.