Enhancement of the visible light photocatalytic activity of fluorapatite through manganese doping

Ceramics International

2025-08

Fluorapatite

Doping

Manganese

Photocatalysis

Sunlight

The presence of persistent and toxic organic pollutants, such as industrial dyes, in the environment represents a serious global problem. These contaminants are resistant to conventional treatment methods and accumulate in the ecosystem, thereby compromising water and soil quality, affecting biodiversity and putting human health at risk. Given this scenario, this study investigates the synthesis of manganese-doped fluorapatite (FAp) (1–4 mol%) via the co-precipitation method as a new alternative for a visible-light-active photocatalyst. After obtaining the samples, structural, morphological and spectroscopic characterizations were performed by techniques such as XRD, FTIR, EPR, UV–Vis/DRS, PL, TEM and XPS. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated under direct exposure to sunlight using a mixture of malachite green and crystal violet dyes. The best performance was observed for the sample doped with 3 mol% manganese, which achieved a degradation efficiency of 88 % after 80 min of irradiation. The experimental tests indicated that the main reactive species involved in the photocatalytic process were superoxide (•O2−), hole (h+) and hydroxyl (OH•) radicals. Furthermore, the sample demonstrated excellent photostability after five reuse cycles, highlighting the potential of manganese-doped FAp as a promising material for environmental remediation applications