Creation of Mo active sites on indium oxide microrods for photocatalytic amino acid production

As an n-type semiconductor, In2O3 is considered a promising photocatalyst for producing amino acids using biomass derivatives as precursors. However, similar to other intrinsic semiconductors, suffers from poor charge dynamics. Herein, we show the synthesis of Mo-doped (Mo-In2O3) with porous rod-shaped structure through one-step solvothermal reaction followed by calcination. Under visible-light irradiation, Mo-In2O3 achieves high conversion rate 81% that transforms lactic acid into alanine selectivity 91%. Spectroscopic techniques and density functional theory calculations reveal Mo doping introduces defect states slightly below conduction band In2O3, which improves separation photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In addition, atoms on surface form extra adsorption centers greatly enhance rate. This work provides insights development transition metal-doped semiconductor photocatalysts produce acids.