Effects of MoOx modification on photocatalytic activity of hydroxyapatite and Ti-doped hydroxyapatite

Abstract

Titanium-doped hydroxyapatite (Ti-HAp, (Ca10-2x, Tix, □x) (PO4)6(OH)2, □: defect in Ca site) and hydroxyapatite (HAp, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) powders were modified with an ethanol solution of molybdenyl acetylacetonate (MoO2(C5H8O2)2) using chemisorption calcination cycle (CCC) technique, which provides metal oxide clusters. Their photocatalytic activity under UV illumination was evaluated by the decomposition of gaseous 2-propanol. The photocatalytic activity of the Mo-modified Ti-HAp samples increased concomitantly with increasing Mo concentration up to 0.72% against P. The highest photocatalytic activity of Mo-modified Ti-HAp was about 13 times higher than that of Ti-HAp. The signal appearance of Mo(V) in electron spin resonance spectra and the decrease of photoluminescence intensity suggest electron transfer from the Ti-hybridized band to the MoOx cluster, which suppresses recombination of the photoinduced electron and hole pairs. The photocatalytic activity of Mo-modified HAp samples was attributed to HOMO–LUMO excitation of MoOx cluster.