Publication

Abstract : In the present work, Ni 2+ and Cu 2+ ions are doped with TiO 2 using sol–gel technique. The effects of Ni and Cu doping in TiO 2 matrix are characterized by XRD, Micro-Raman, FTIR, UV–DRS, PL, and FESEM with EDS. Furthermore, it is analyzed for photocatalytic activity and magnetic applications. From XRD analysis, it is observed that the peaks corresponding to the planes match with the JCPDS data [anatase: 89-4203] of TiO 2 . The crystallite size of the doped samples is found to be greater than that of TiO 2 . Micro-Raman analysis shows the confirmation of anatase phase of TiO 2 . FTIR analysis confirms the presence of functional groups which are presented in the prepared samples. From UV–DRS, the band-gap values of TiO 2 and doped TiO 2 (Ni 2+ , Cu 2+ ) are found to be 3.25, 2.48, and 1.25 eV. Photoluminescence (PL) results show an emission edge of Ni- and Cu-doped TiO 2 is red shifted which is due to the vacancies of titanium and oxygen imported subsequently during doping. The surface morphology and the elemental composition of Ni- and Cu-doped TiO 2 nanoparticles are also analyzed. The photocatalytic activity of all the prepared samples are assessed by methylene blue dye as testing pollutant and visible radiation. The test reveals that Cu–TiO 2 , Ni–TiO 2 , and TiO 2 show the degradation efficiency of 68.14, 61.04, and 33.32%, thereby showing that the doped TiO 2 are more efficient in degrading the pollutant and can be applied for future photocatalytic applications. From VSM analysis, the saturation magnetization of Ni–TiO 2 and Cu–TiO 2 is found to be weak and can be improved by the synthesis process and the proportion of dopant. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.