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Effects of ZnO/Mn Concentration on the Micro-structure and Optical Properties of ZnO/Mn–TiO2 Nano-composite for Applications in Photo-Catalysis

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Abstract

We successfully synthesized of ZnO/Mn–TiO2 (Mn–Ti) nano-composite for different ZnO:Mn (Zn-M) concentrations. These composites with high photo-catalytic activity derived from TiO2 and Zn-M nanoparticles elaborated by the sol–gel method. The SEM and TEM images indicated that samples reveals well-ordered and good size distribution of particles. In addition, the composite sample showed no aggregation in similitude with the anatase TiO2 sample. The study of optical properties of nano-composites shows that Zn-M nanoparticles caused to increase the optical activity of Mn–Ti composites samples and it established by UV–Vis, photo-luminescence, and photo-catalytic tests. The XRD study exhibited that in ours composites samples with increasing the Zn-M concentration, the particle size increased from 10 to 27 nm. PL measurements suggest that co-emission of a strong luminescence, high yellow emission at 563 nm, at 640 nm and at 774 nm is observed from the Mn–Ti composites samples. The photo-catalytic activity of the prepared nano-composite was examined for the degradation of methyl-orange (MO) by the irradiation of UV light.

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  1. Laboratory of Physics of Materials and Nanomaterials Applied at Environment (LaPhyMNE), Faculty of Sciences in Gabes, Gabes University, Gabes, Tunisia

    K. Omri

  2. Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

    N. Alonizan

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Omri, K., Alonizan, N. Effects of ZnO/Mn Concentration on the Micro-structure and Optical Properties of ZnO/Mn–TiO2 Nano-composite for Applications in Photo-Catalysis. J Inorg Organomet Polym 29, 203–212 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-018-0979-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-018-0979-4

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