Synthesis, structural and magnetic behavior of undoped and Mn-doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles

Ti1-xMnxO2 (x = 0, 0.05) nanoparticles have been synthesized using chemically derived self-propagating combustion reaction method. X-ray diffraction studies demonstrate the formation of anatase phase of TiO2 belonging to 141/amd space group in both samples without the formation of any impurity phase. The incorporation of 5 at.% Mn content does not produce any changes in crystal structure which reveals the exact substitution of Mn atoms at Ti sites. Some change in lattice parameters and crystallite size is observed in Mn-doped composition, attributed to the difference in ionic radii. The size of grains obtained using scanning electron micrographs shows the consistent trend with the crystallite size evaluated from X-ray diffraction analysis. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirms the incorporation of Mn content in TiO2 structure. Ferromagnetic behavior detected only in Mn-doped TiO2 composition correspond to the strong Mn d-shell contribution.