Investigation of concentration dependent electrical and photocatalytic properties of Mn doped SmFeO3

Abstract

Abstract SmFe1-xMnxO3 (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) is synthesized by the sol-gel method. Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction pattern of the materials show crystallization in the orthorhombic structure with Pbnm space group. The complex impedance and the ac conductivity of SmFe1-xMnxO3 have been studied by the alternating current impedance spectroscopy method. The conductivity analysis implies that the materials behave as a semiconductor in the entire temperature range. It is observed that with the increase of Mn doping, both the dielectric constant and the conductivity increases whereas the value of loss tangent decreases. The conduction mechanism in these materials has been explained by the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model. The complex impedance plane plot is analyzed using the Cole-Cole model. The photocatalytic activity of the materials is performed by the degradation of organic pollutant under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic efficiency of these materials show improvement with the increase in Mn concentration.