Manganese tungstate (MnWO₄) is a promising multiferroic material with tunable optical and electronic properties, yet its wide bandgap and limited radiation-shielding efficiency restrict its applicability in optoelectronics and nuclear safety. In this work, we demonstrate that controlled molybdenum (Mo) doping in MnWO₄ enables simultaneous bandgap engineering, defect modulation, and enhanced radiation attenuation. MnW_1−xMo_xO₄ samples (x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15) were produced using a coprecipitation technique. The influence of doping with Mo on the structural parameters was ascertained through the implementation of Rietveld refinement on the measured XRD patterns. The cell parameters disclosed non-monotonic variations attributed to the interplay between the predominant influence of the difference in cationic radii at lower Mo content and the escalating influence of defect generation at higher doping levels. All samples revealed anisotropic crystallite dimensions with sizes along the [h00] and [0k0] directions being smaller than along the [00 l] direction. Replacing W by Mo increased the distortion index (D.I.) significantly for [WO₆] octahedrons, but marginally for [MnO₆] octahedrons. The octahedral distortions were validated using Raman analysis. Upon Mo doping, the optical absorption enhanced for λ < 400 nm but reduced for higher values. Both the direct and indirect bandgap energy E_gap were reduced for doped samples, attaining the values: (2.8, 2.1), (2.3, 0.94) and (2.14, 1) eV for x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.1, respectively. The PL intensity was reduced upon doping, which, along with the reduction in E_gap, enhances the functionality of the doped samples in photocatalytic applications. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) and mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) values at 20 keV for MnW_1−xMo_xO₄ samples (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15) are (318.1, 422.4, 415.7, 410.9 cm⁻¹) and (44.2, 59.8, 59.8, and 59.8 cm²/g), respectively. The doped system exhibited the least mean free path (MFP) values at higher photon energy levels in comparison to the MnWO₄ sample. The effective atomic number (Z_eff) values of Mo-doped samples rose across the whole photon energy spectrum. While the fast neutron removal cross section (FNRCS) decreased upon Mo incorporation, attributed to reduced oxygen content in the doped samples, all synthesized materials still demonstrated superior neutron-shielding performance compared to conventional reference materials such as water and graphite. These findings establish Mo-doped MnWO₄ as a versatile material platform for dual-function optoelectronic and radiation-shielding applications.

Title

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics

Publisher

Springer

Publisher Country

United States of America

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

2.8

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

37

Year

2026

Pages

802