Effect of metal ion doping on the photocatalytic activity of aluminophosphates

Abstract

The metal ions (Ti+4, Mg+2, Zn+2 and Co+2) have been substituted in place of Al+3 in aluminophosphates (AlPOs). These compounds were used for the first time as possible photocatalysts for the degradation of organic dyes. Among the doped AlPOs, ZnAlPO-5, CoAlPO-5, MgAlPO-11, 18 and 36 did not show any photocatalytic activity. MgAlPO-5 showed photocatalytic activity and different loading of Mg (4, 8, 12 atom % of Mg) were investigated. The activity can be enhanced by the increasing of concentration of the doped metal ions. TiAlPO-5 (4, 8, 12 atom % of Ti) showed the highest photocatalytic activity among all the compounds and its activity was compared to that of Degussa P25 (TiO2). The activity of photocatalysts was correlated with the diffuse reflectance and photoluminescence spectra. © Indian Academy of Sciences.