Facile surface modification of Nickel ferrite nanomaterial by different routes: Photoluminescence and photocatalytic activities

Abstract

Nanocrystalline spinel NiFe2O4 was synthesized by a simple combustion method using Oxalyl Dihydrazide (ODH) as fuel. For the comparative study, it was also prepared by sol gel method. Powder X-ray diffraction results indicate that the synthesized samples have single-phase cubic spinel structure with high crystallinity for sol gel synthesized sample. The combustion synthesized NiFe2O4 samples contain several pores and voids, whereas the sol gel method consists of irregular shaped thin flakes like structure as revealed by SEM. The photoluminescence spectrum reveals the occupancy of Ni2+ ions in both octahedral and tetrahedral sites resulting in mixed spinel structure. Both the samples were successfully tested as catalysts for the degradation of Direct Green (DG) under UV and Sunlight irradiation. The sample prepared by sol gel method shows a very good degradation of 73% (UV light) and 90% (Sunlight) compared to combustion method with high recyclability. This emphasize the importance of preparation methodology for NiFe2O4 proving the best performance for sol gel method with high degradation for DG dye under sunlight irradiation.