Preparation of Ni(OH)2, NiO and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles: magnetic and photo-catalyst NiFe2O4-NiO nanocomposites

In this work, nickel ferrites (NiFe2O4), nickel hydroxide and nickel oxide nanoparticles as well as NiFe2O4-NiO nanostructures were synthesized via a simple precipitation method. The effect of concentration, temperature and precipitating agent, on the morphology and particle size of the magnetic products was investigated. The prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Alternating gradient force magnetometer was used to study the magnetic property of the products. The results illustrated either super-paramagnetic or ferromagnetic behaviour of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles depending on synthesized temperature. The photo-catalytic behaviour of NiFe2O4-NiO nanocomposites was evaluated using the degradation of acid brown, acid violet, acid black and acid blue under ultraviolet light irradiation. These results show that nanocomposites are applicable for magnetic and photo-catalytic performance in UV light.