Structural and photocatalytic studies of Mn doped TiO2 nanoparticles

Mn-doped TiO(2) nanoparticles (Ti(1-)(x)Mn(x)O(2); where x=0.00-0.10) were synthesized by sol-gel method. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and UV-Vis spectrometer. The SEM and TEM micrographs revealed the agglomerated spherical-like morphology and measurements show that the size of crystallites is in the range of 10-20 nm. Optical measurements indicated a red shift in the absorption band edge after Mn doping. Direct allowed band gap of undoped and Mn-doped TiO(2) nanoparticles measured by UV-Vis spectrometer were 3.00 and 2.95 eV at 300 °C, respectively. Photocatalytic activities of TiO(2) and Mn doped TiO(2) were evaluated by irradiating the sample solution of methylene blue (MB) dye under ultraviolet and visible light exposure. It was found that Mn-doped TiO(2) bleaches MB much faster than undoped TiO(2) upon its exposure to the visible light as comparison to ultraviolet light. The experiment demonstrated that the photodegradation efficiency of Mn-doped TiO(2) was significantly higher than that of undoped TiO(2) upon its exposure to visible light.