Sol-Gel Synthesized N and Mn Co-Doped TiO2 Nanomaterial for Photocatalytic Degradation of Malathion under Visible Light Irradiation
Susmitha Thota1, Gollamudi Padma Rao2, Imandi Manga Raju3, Siva Rao Tirukkovalluri4

1Sushmitha Thota, Department of Inorganic & Analytical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India.
2Gollamudi Padma Rao, Department of Chemistry, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Srikakulam, (Andhra Pradesh), India.
3Imandi Manga Raju, Department of Inorganic & Analytical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Andhra University Visakhapatnam, India.
4Tirukkovalluri Siva Rao, Department of Inorganic & Analytical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Andhra University Visakhapatnam, India.
Manuscript received on November 24, 2019. | Revised Manuscript received on December 15, 2019. | Manuscript published on December 30, 2019. | PP: 3688-3694  | Volume-9 Issue-2, December, 2019. | Retrieval Number:  B3116129219/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijeat.B3116.129219
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Different weight percentages (0.25-1.00 wt%) of Nitrogen (Non-Metal) and Manganese (Metal) co-doped nano titania were synthesized by sol-gel method and characterized by XRD, UV-vis.DRS, FT-IR, XPS, SEM and TEM. The XRD results has shown that all the prepared catalysts are in anatase phase indicating that co-doping of N and Mn did not affect the crystal structure of TiO2 . From the UV-vis.DRS spectra a significant absorption shift towards visible region was noticed in N and Mn co-doped TiO2 and their presence was confirmed by XPS and FT-IR results. SEM and TEM results showed spherical nanoparticles with average particle size of 9 nm. Photocatalytic efficiency of synthesized nano materials was tested on non-biodegradable organophosphorous pesticide, Malathion under visible light irradiation. The effect of dopant concentration, pH, catalyst dosage, and initial pesticide concentration on photocatalytic degradation of malathion was studied and optimum conditions were established. Among the synthesized samples 0.50 wt% N & 1.00 wt% Mn-TiO2 exhibited best photocatalytic performance. Photoluminiscent spectroscopy (PL) was used to examine the rate of production of oxidative species, hydroxyl radicals which play key role in photocatalytic degradation.
Keywords: Malathion, Manganese, Nitrogen, Sol-gel method, Titanium dioxide, Visible light.