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Microwave assisted synthesis and characterization of pure and Cr doped TiO2 with improved photo-efficiency

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Abstract

This work deals with the effect of chromium (Cr) dopant on structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles by a novel microwave irradiation method. The concentration of Cr is varied from 0 to 5 wt%. X-ray diffraction results suggest that both pure and Cr doped TiO2 had tetragonal anatase type structure with single crystalline nature. Transmission electron microscope measurement showed that well crystalline spherical morphology and the average particles size was found to be about 25–45 nm. The absorption edges of TiO2 shift towards longer wavelengths (i.e. red shifted) from 366 to about 459 nm with increasing Cr concentration, which greatly improve the UV absorption of TiO2 nano-materials. The photocatalytic activity of the catalyst powders evaluated by using three types of dyes such as azo-Methyl Red, Congo Red, Orange G under UV light irradiation. The result showed that the photocatalytic property was significantly improved by Cr doping. The superior photocatalytic mechanism by Cr doping was also discussed in detail. The samples were further characterized by photoluminescence and energy dispersive spectra analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Development Centre, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India

    R. Senthil Kumar

  2. PG & Research Department of Physics, Chikkaiah Naicker College, Erode, Tamil Nadu, 638 004, India

    B. Gnanavel

  3. Department of Physics, Pavai College of Technology, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, 637018, India

    A. Jegatheesan

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  1. R. Senthil Kumar
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  3. A. Jegatheesan
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Correspondence to R. Senthil Kumar.

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Senthil Kumar, R., Gnanavel, B. & Jegatheesan, A. Microwave assisted synthesis and characterization of pure and Cr doped TiO2 with improved photo-efficiency. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 29, 6501–6510 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-8632-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-8632-0

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