Structural, optical, electrical, and photocatalytic application of NiFe2O4@NiO nanocomposites for methylene blue dye

In this work, the structural, dielectric, and optical properties of NiFe2O4@NiO (1:0, 0.9:0.1, 0.7:0.3, 0.5:0.5, and 0:1) nanocomposites using co-precipitation process for its possible application in wastewater treatment. Struc-tural properties have been studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and FTIR spectroscopy, and morphology by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From XRD analysis of NiFe2O4 and NiO nanocomposites revealed the origination of cubic structure. TEM images revealed that the particle size increased with nickel oxide content. The oxidation state was elucidated from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Real (Z ') and imaginary (Z '') part of impedance, dielectric constant (e '), dielectric loss (e ''), ac conductivity (sigma ac) was studied with frequency (1Hz 10 MHz), and composition. e ', e '' and sigma ac were observed to increase with nickel oxide concentration. At tetrahedral sites, the hopping of electrons between Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions may be due to concentration variation. The Nyquist plot showed two semicircle arcs which represent the effect of grains and grains boundary in con-duction. The photocatalytic activity was executed for methylene blue dye up to 95.41% of dye degradation was attained within 120 min for (0.5NiFe(2)O(4)/0.5NiO) nanocomposite.

Automated summary

In this work, NiFe2O4@NiO (1:0, 0.9:0.1, 0.7:0.3, 0.5:0.5, and 0:1) nanocomposites were prepared using a co-precipitation process to investigate their structural, dielectric, and optical properties for potential application in wastewater treatment. XRD, FTIR spectroscopy, and TEM were used to study the structural and morphological properties. The particle size was found to increase with nickel oxide content, and the oxidation state was determined using XPS. The impedance, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and ac conductivity were observed to increase with nickel oxide concentration. The (0.5NiFe(2)O(4)/0.5NiO) nanocomposite exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, degrading 95.41% of methylene blue dye within 120 min.