Sol-Gel Synthesized N and Mn Co-Doped TiO2 Nanomaterial for Photocatalytic Degradation of Malathion under Visible Light Irradiation

Abstract

Different weight percentages (0.25-1.00 wt%) of Nitrogen (Non-Metal) and Manganese (Metal) co-doped nano titania were synthesized by sol-gel method and characterized by XRD, UV-vis.DRS, FT-IR, XPS, SEM and TEM. The XRD results has shown that all the prepared catalysts are in anatase phase indicating that co-doping of N and Mn did not affect the crystal structure of TiO2. From the UV-vis.DRS spectra a significant absorption shift towards visible region was noticed in N and Mn co-doped TiO2 and their presence was confirmed by XPS and FT-IR results. SEM and TEM results showed spherical nanoparticles with average particle size of 9 nm. Photocatalytic efficiency of synthesized nano materials was tested on non-biodegradable organophosphorous pesticide, Malathion under visible light irradiation. The effect of dopant concentration, pH, catalyst dosage, and initial pesticide concentration on photocatalytic degradation of malathion was studied and optimum conditions were established. Among the synthesized samples 0.50 wt% N & 1.00 wt% Mn-TiO2 exhibited best photocatalytic performance. Photoluminiscent spectroscopy (PL) was used to examine the rate of production of oxidative species, hydroxyl radicals which play key role in photocatalytic degradation.