Decoration of MoO3-x on clay mineral matrix with great phosphorescence properties for oxygen activation, photochemical properties, bactericidal and oxidase-like mimics for prompt detection of pesticide

In photocatalytic system, singlet oxygen can be generated based on the excitonic energy transfer process. Here, the 2D layered hallyosite (Hal) as a support hydroxyl group's substrate to anchor molybdenum trioxide (MoO3-x) with oxygen vacancies (Hal/MoO3-x) was prepared. Electron spin resonance and quenching experiments showed that the combination of Hal and MoO3-x enhances the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) and inhibits the production of other reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, photocatalytic molecular oxygen activation experiments were carried out to evaluation of 1O2 generation. Phosphorescence spectroscopy revealed improved triplet exciton production in the composite. The Hal/MoO3-x shows great degradation response in TC removal. The value for the rate constant (k) of the composite was 0.0209 min−1 under light irradiation, which is about 5.64 and 3.02 times larger than that of Hal, MoO3 and MoO3-x, respectively. The results revealed that Hal/MoO3-x had the best antibacterial performance. The L. monocytogenes, and N. gonorrhoeae were killed by the destruction of the cell membranes due to the generation of reactive oxygen species and thermal effect. In addition, a colorimetric sensor via the Hal/MoO3-x and peroxidase system was performed for selectivity and sensitivity detection of simazine with 2.45 nM as a detection limit.