Mg dependent Sunlight photocatalytic performance of Nickel ferrite synthesized by a green sol-gel route

摘要： We report an environmentally friendly synthetic strategy to synthesize new nickel ferrite and Mg doped nickel ferrite photocatalysts under modified green sol-gel route in which Aloe Vera gel acts as a natural template. The crystalline phase, surface morphology and size of the prepared photocatalysts were characterized by PXRD, SEM, TEM and HRTEM analysis. The energy band gap of the nanoparticles (NPs) can be tuned in the range of 2.55–2.34 eV by varying the dopant concentration. The photoluminescence analysis indicates that the present NPs are an effective white component in display applications. These synthesized NPs were used for photocatalytic decomposition of recalcitrant pollutants in aqueous media under Sunlight irradiation. When compared to pure, NiFe2O4: Mg2+ (5 mol %), the NiFe2O4: Mg2+ (1mol %) exhibits the highest photocatalytic efficiency for the decomposition of recalcitrant pollutants than that of commercial P25.This enhancement in photocatalytic performance can be mainly attributed to the balance between the parameters, crystallanity,band gap, morphology, crystallite size, defects, dopant amount and combined facets of photocatalysis It opens new window to use this simple greener route to synthesize bi-functional character NPs in the area of photocatalysis particularly waste water treatment and display applications.