Enhanced visible light photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye using efficient Mg/S co-doped TiO 2 nanoparticles

Herein, the Mg-S co-doped TiO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by the sol-gel method, and their photocatalytic activity of MB (methylene blue) dye was examined under simulated visible light. X-ray diffraction patterns of Mg-S co-doped TiO 2 reveal an average crystallite size of 19.3 nm. Moreover, results showed that Mg/S co-doped TiO 2 NPs had pure anatase structures with spherical morphology. The band gap energy Mg/S co-doped TiO 2 was decreased from 3.12 to 2.78 eV by adding the doping and codoping of Mg and S into TiO 2 NPs. The Mg/S co-doped TiO 2 NPs showed excellent photocatalytic activity compared to pristine TiO 2 , Mg-TiO 2, and S-TiO 2 NPs. The maximum degradation efficiency of MB was achieved at 94.8% for Mg/S co-doped TiO 2 NPs. Meanwhile, the possible photocatalytic mechanism of photocatalysts was discussed. Different weight percentages of Mg/S co-doped TiO 2 were used to investigate the effect of the Ag concentration on antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ), and the maximum antibacterial activity was achieved by 24 mm and 22 mm for TiO 2 NPs membrane doped and co-doped with Mg/S. The current investigation delivers a promising strategy to promote photocatalytic activity to eliminate waterborne contaminants.