Cd doped-Alpha-Dimanganese Trioxide Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Structural, Morphological, Optical, Luminescent, Magnetic, Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Characterization

Abstract

In this paper, we present Cd doped alpha-dimanganese trioxide (Cd-A-DMTO) nanoparticles developed with the particle size of 25-28 nm via the sol-gel technique. The effects of 1-3% Cd concentrations on the crystal structure, size and strain, lattice constant, interplanar distance and unit cell volume values of the alpha-dimanganese trioxide (α-Mn2O3) samples were compared with the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) results. The crystallite sizes are computed using the Scherrer's formula and the Williamson-Hall (W-H) plot using the XRD data for the Cd-A-DMTO samples, and their values are comparatively discussed. The powder XRD, and Raman spectral studies have shown the formation of the single crystalline cubic bixbyite phase of the prepared Cd-A-DMTO samples. Structural behaviour was investigated for the prepared Cd-A-DMTO samples by the Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR). The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis shows that the Cd has been incorporated into the manganese oxide. The spheres/rods, spindles/spheres and hexagonal/sphere-like particles are found in the 1%, 2% and 3% Cd-A-DMTO samples in the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analyses. Superparamagnetic behavior of the Cd-A-DMTO samples was detected by the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). The optical band gap increased and the PL emission intensity decreased with an increase in the concentration of the Cd dopant on the manganese oxide samples in the UV absorption and photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra. The photodegradation of the Congo red (CR) dye showed that the 3% Cd-A-DMTO photocatalyst had greater photocatalytic degradation efficiency and a rate constant compared to the 1% Cd-A-DMTO sample. The antibacterial activity of the Cd-A-DMTO samples was examined using selected bacterial pathogens.