https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06437-3
Regular Article
Photocatalytic performance of Ni1-xCuxFe2O4 nanoparticles: studies on structure, microstructure, electrical and optical properties and dye photodegradation
1
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, 31527, Tanta, Egypt
2
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Kafrelsheikh University, 33516, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt
a
ahmed.elmakawi@science.tanta.edu.eg
Received:
9
January
2025
Accepted:
14
May
2025
Published online:
12
June
2025
Water pollution is a major global problem. Among its pollutants, dyes stand out, which are overused in a variety of industries and cannot be easily removed by conventional waste treatment methods. Ni1-xCuxFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs), x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0, were synthesized by auto-combustion flash method for application as photocatalyst in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye. The synthesized NPs were characterized using different experimental techniques and their photocatalytic performance was investigated. The microstructure of the prepared Ni–-Cu ferrite nanoparticles was also explored using positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS). The nanocrystalline structure with the main spinel and tetragonal phases for low and high Cu content samples, respectively, with the size ranging from 14.7 to 40.4 nm for the prepared ferrite samples was confirmed by the results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements. The UV–Vis absorption spectra of the synthesized ferrite nanoparticles reveal that the optical indirect band gap values of these samples ranged from 4.86 to 4.90 eV. The electrical measurement results found that the dielectric constant and electrical conductivity values of Ni–Cu ferrite sample x = 0.2 are the highest compared to other samples. Also, the microstructure of the Ni0.8Cu0.2Fe2O4 sample showed the lowest average defect density compared to other samples and the defect structure of all prepared samples are similar. Results of photocatalytic measurements at pH 12.45 or addition of H2O2 showed almost complete degradation (~ 97%) after 30 min of solar light irradiation. Correlation between photocatalytic activity and microstructure parameters as well as some measured parameters of other techniques used found that the microstructure has the most effective influence on the photocatalytic performance of the studied ferrite samples.
© The Author(s) 2025
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
