Experimental and computational insights into the aminopropylphosphonic acid modification of mesoporous TiO2 powder: The role of the amine functionality on the surface interaction and coordination

Recently, interest has been directed towards the grafting of metal oxides with organophosphonic acids bearing terminal amine groups to extend the functionality and applicability of these materials. Previous reports mainly focus on the application perspective, while a detailed characterization of the surface properties at the molecular level and the correlation with the synthesis conditions are missing. In this work, mesoporous TiO2 powder is grafted with 3-aminopropylphosphonic acid (3APPA) under different concentrations (20, 75, 150 mM) and temperatures (50, 90 degrees C) and compared with propylphosphonic acid (3PPA) grafting to unambiguously reveal the impact of the amine group on the surface properties. A combination of complementary spectroscopic techniques and Density Functional Theory-Periodic Boundary Conditions (DFT/PBC) calculations are used. At 90 degrees C and high concentrations, lower modification degrees are obtained for 3APPA compared to 3PPA, due to amineinduced surface interactions. Both X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy reveal that both NH2 and NH3 groups are present, with also contributions of NH2 groups involved in hydrogen bonding interactions. A similar ratio of NH2/NH3+ (65:35) is obtained irrespective of the modification conditions, suggesting similar relative contributions of different surface conformations. Calculated adsorption energies from DFT calculations on 3APPA adsorption on anatase (101) in relation to the water coverage reveals a coexistence of various structures with the amine group involved in intraadsorbate, inter-adsorbate and adsorbate-surface interactions. Further validation is obtained from the strong overlap of different P-31 environments represented by the broad band (35-12 ppm) in experimental P-31 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra and calculated P-31 chemical shifts of all modelled monodentate and bidentate structures. Structures related to the tridentate binding mode are not formed due to geometric restrictions of the anatase (101) facet applied as model support in the calculations. Nevertheless, they could be present in the experimental samples as they are composed of anatase (representing multiple crystal facets) and an amorphous titania fraction.

Automated summary

Recent research has focused on grafting metal oxides with organophosphonic acids to enhance their functionality. This study examines the impact of amine groups on surface properties through experiments and theoretical calculations, revealing the presence of different surface conformations and interactions. The results indicate that the presence of amine groups affects surface modification and structure of the materials.