Synthesis and characterization of Mg doped TiO2 nanoparticles for photocatalytic applications

Abstract

Undoped and Mg-doped (0.3 and 0.4 M) TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol–gel technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) were used to characterize the crystallite structure and morphology of TiO2 nanoparticles. The crystallite size varies from 8.11 to 27.17 nm when Mg content increases from 0 to 0.4 M. UV-DRS studies show the occurrence of strong blue shift and broad absorption show incorporation of Mg in TiO2 lattices. The bandgap values were found to be decreased from 3.02 to 2.87 eV when the Mg content increases from 0 to 0.4 M. From the PL analysis, the emission spectra were recorded for the prepared samples. The Ti, O and Mg were identified from the EDS spectra. Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange was also analyzed using the synthesized nanoparticles acts as a catalyst.