The photo-catalytic activities of MP (M = Ba, Ca, Cu, Sr, Ag; P = PO43-, HPO42-) microparticles

For the good performance of apatite-based materials in the removal of dyes and their environment-friendly advantage, five kinds of apatite microparticles of MP (M = Ba, Ca, Cu, Sr, Ag; P = PO43-, HPO42-) were synthesized by a simple precipitation method and their photo-catalytic properties were invested. Better performance in the decolorization of methyl orange (MO) under the assistance of H2O2 than that of TiO2 were obtained for all the MPs. The photo-catalytic activity was mainly affected by surface area, energy band, impurity, crystallinity and crystal structure. The DFT calculation results demonstrated that the 2p of O and 3p of Pin PO43- played the main role in the photo-catalytic process. This work would be helpful to design and synthesize low cost apatite materials with good photo-catalytic performance. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.