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Low-cost synthesis of lanthanides (Eu3+and Sm3+)-intercalated TiO2 nanostructures: a detailed study on structural, optical and photocatalytic applications

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Abstract

The pure and Lanthanides (Eu3+and Sm3+) ions doped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by the low-cost sol–gel method. The as-synthesized nanoparticles were characterized in detail to reveal their structural, morphological, chemical and optical properties using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and UV–Vis spectroscopy techniques. The particle sizes were found to be decreased upon doping and agglomerations have been seen from XRD and SEM images, respectively. The band gap energy measurements confirmed that the addition of Lanthanides ions cause increase in the band gap energy of the nanocomposites from 3.34 eV to 3.50 eV (ΔE = 0.16 eV). The photocatalytic activities of these samples were investigated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under normal sun light. The TiO2:Sm3+ photocatalyst shows 89% degradation efficiency, which is several times higher compared to pure.

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Funding

RA Zargar is highly thankful to BGSB University for providing research facility and peaceful environment to carry out this wonderful research for the visibility of university. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia for funding this work through Research Groups Program under Grant No. R.G.P.2/215/43.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, 185234, India

    R. A. Zargar

  2. Centre for Nano Science and Nanotechnology, J.M.I, New Delhi, 110025, India

    M. Imran, V. Nagal, Tuiba Mearaj & A. K. Hafiz

  3. Material Science Section, CSIR-NPL, New Delhi, 110012, India

    M. Arora

  4. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    M. Aslam Manthrammel & Mohd Shkir

  5. University Center for Research & Development (UCRD), Chandigarh University, NH95, Chandigarh-Ludhiana Highway, Gharuan, Mohali, Punjab,, 140413, India

    Mohd Shkir

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Contributions

RAZ, M, MA, VN, KK, TM and AKH: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Supervision, MAM, MS: Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review and editing.

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Zargar, R.A., Imran, M., Arora, M. et al. Low-cost synthesis of lanthanides (Eu3+and Sm3+)-intercalated TiO2 nanostructures: a detailed study on structural, optical and photocatalytic applications. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 26931–26942 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09357-5

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