Magneto-chemical properties of Ti-doped Co3O4 nanosheets for photocatalytic activity applications

Abstract

The 2D nanosheets of Ti-doped Co3O4 were prepared by hydrothermal technique to understand their dimensional effectiveness for the application of photocatalytic dye degradation. These nanosheets were well characterized for crystal structure, morphology, and composition. The energy band gap for 3% Ti-doped Co3O4 nanosheets was reduced. The 3% Ti-doped Co3O4 shows a reduction in crystallite size, band gap, and an enhancement in saturation magnetization, photosensitivity, and defects. The photocatalytic activity of Ti-doped Co3O4 nanosheets is higher than Co3O4. The small amount of Ti improves the structural, optical, and magnetic properties and photocatalytic action of the as-prepared samples. After successful doping of Ti into Co3O4 lattice the saturated magnetization of Co3O4 was enhanced. The sample 3% Ti-doped Co3O4 nanosheet shows high photosensitivity. The effect of photosensitivity on the photocatalytic activity was scrutinized by I-V characteristics. After being exposed to sunlight 3% Ti-doped Co3O4 nanosheet showed an electrical resistance ∼ 129 kΩ. Also, the effect of oxidizing reagents (H2O2) and reducing reagents (scavengers) was studied in detail. The photocatalytic efficiency enhances up to 97.29% under sunlight irradiation within 20 min only. The effect of magnetism on enhancement of efficiency for MB dye degradation was discussed in detail. The charge transfer, reducing charge carrier recombination, and increasing the utilization of light energy in catalytic processes were presented in this report at length.