Synthesis of Ni0.5Co0.5FeAlO4 nanospinel and evaluation of its photocatalytic activity

The general formula of spinel compounds is AB2O4, in which the A-site is mostly occupied by divalent metal and the B-site is occupied by trivalent one. Over the past decades, oxides with spinel structures have received much research attention due to their physicochemical properties [1,2]. The present study concentrates on synthesis of NiCoFeAlO4 nanoparticles by the means of sol-gel technique using tragacanth gel. The synthesized nanoparticles were then characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The photocatalytic activity of NiCoFeAlO4 MNPs has been determined for basic red 5 (BR5) dye degradation in the presence of visible light. The photocatalytic efficiency has been carried out at various initial dye concentration, photocatalyst dosage, and irradiation time. The results depicted that NiCoFeAlO4 MNPs can degrade of BR5. This method is cost-effective, simple, less time consuming, eco-friendly, and can consequently be utilized for scale-up production.