Synthesis of TiO2-MgO mixed metal oxide nanoparticles via a sol-gel method and studies on their optical properties

TiO2-MgO mixed metal oxide nanoparticles with variable MgO content were prepared by a simple sol gel method. The nanoparticles were characterized by power X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, transmission electron microscopy and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction results indicate that the presence of MgO prevents the complete transformation of anatase to ruffle in the TiO2-MgO mixed metal oxide nanoparticles prepared using lower MgO content even at 900 degrees C. The presence of MgO in TiO2-MgO nanoparticles suppresses the crystal growth of TiO2 leading to a blue-shift of its band gap. The TiO2-MgO samples prepared using higher MgO content and calcined at 700 degrees C and 900 degrees C lead to mixed metal oxide nanoparticles with high band gap (similar to 4.3 eV) due to the formation of MgTiO3. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.