Paramagnetism and super paramagnetism of nanocrystalline titanium dioxide powders

•Mn-doped nanosized titanium dioxide powders were synthesized by a sol–gel method.•Mn doping leads to the predominance of the paramagnetic contribution to the magnetization over the diamagnetic contribution and a small increase in the number of the ferromagnetic clusters.•The linear part along with the diamagnetic contribution typical for metal oxides is due to the contribution of two types of paramagnetic centers.•These regions do not interact magnetically, and the powder as a whole exhibits superparamagnetic behavior.