Active sites rich manganese doped MoS2 nanostructures with enhanced photodegradation of methylene blue dye

Abstract

Pure and manganese (Mn) doped molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) was synthesized by the facile hydrothermal approach. The incorporation of Mn2+ ions without affecting the MoS2 crystal structure was verified from the XRD spectrum. The FESEM images revealed flower like hierarchical nanostructures with an increased surface area for 3% Mn doping. RAMAN and XPS analysis indicated edge terminated active sites for doped sample. A photocatalytic degradation of 97% is obtained for 3% Mn doped sample for methylene blue in 55 min. The edge terminated structures comprising rich active sites along with increased surface area is accounted to the enhanced photocatalytic activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Mn doped MoS2 as an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue.