Impact of NiCo2O4 Composition on Methylene Blue Photodegradation by Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 Nanocomposites

Abstract

Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites were successfully fabricated using the coprecipitation method. The fabrication of Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites were carried out by varying the mass percentage of NiCo2O4 with a composition of 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, and 100% of the mass of Fe3O4. The characterization of the functional groups of Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites was carried out using the FTIR instrument which showed the functional group bonds of the sample corresponding to the constituent atoms. The characterization of the crystal structure of Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites was carried out using an XRD instrument which showed the appearance of characteristic peaks of the Fe3O4 and the NiCo2O4 phases in the X-ray diffraction patterns. The surface morphology of the Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites was characterized using the SEM instrument which produces an image of the surface morphology of the sample. Potential applications of Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 as photodegradation material for methylene blue (MB) were characterized using a UV-Vis instrument and showed that the Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites can be used for water purification with a degradation percentage of 11.99%. The highest absorbance values of the Fe3O4/NiCo2O4 nanocomposites with UV irradiation for interval of 60, 120, and 180 minutes located at wavelength of 613 and 663 nm.

Keywords

• fe3o4/nico2o4
• nanocomposite
• methylene blue
• photodegradation
• iron sand