Hydroxyapatite/MCM-41 and SBA-15 Nano-Composites: Preparation, Characterization and Applications

Composites of hydroxyapatite (HaP) and highly ordered large pore mesoporous silica molecular sieves such as, Al-SBA-15 and Al-MCM-41 (denoted as SBA-15 and MCM-41, respectively) were developed, characterized by XRD, BET, FTIR, HRTEM and NMR-MAS, and applied to fluoride retention from contaminated water. The proposed procedure by a new route to prepare the HaP/SBA-15 and HaP/MCM-41, composites generates materials with aluminum only in tetrahedral coordination, according to the (27)Al NMR-MAS results. Free OH(-) groups of HaP nanocrystals, within the hosts, allowed high capacity fluoride retention. The activity of fluoride retention using HaP/MCM-41 or HaP/SBA-15 was 1-2 orders of magnitude greater, respectively, than with pure HaP.