Nano YMn_2O_5 Visible-light-driven Semiconductor Photocatalyst

YMn2O5 nanoparticles were synthesized by a modified polyacrylamide Gel technique.X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis indicated that the as-synthesized nanoparticles crystallized mostly into orthorhombic YMn2O5 phase and less into hexagonal YMn2O5 phase without the presence of any other impurities.Scanning electron mi-croscope(SEM) observation showed that the prepared YMn2O5 nanoparticles were regularly spherical in shape and highly uniform in size with a diameter of about 45nm.Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was used to investigate the light-absorbing properties and bandgap of YMn2O5 nanoparticles,and the value of the optical bandgap energy was obtained to be 1.21eV.The photocatalytic activity of YMn2O5 nanoparticles was investigated by the degradation of Methyl red(MR),a typical azo dye.The experimental results revealed that the product exhib-ited a pronounced photocatalytic activity for the MR decomposition under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation.The optimum conditions for the photocatalytic degradation were determined to be as follows,initial concentration of MR,15mg/L,catalyst dosage,1.2g/L.