Author : Seemab Hussnain, Syed Salman Ali, Muhammad Qadeer Alam, Muhammad Hamad Safder, Atia Roman, Tehreem Fatima and Muhammad Asif

A cobalt doped nickel ferrites were prepared in this study. Photo catalysts made of cobalt-doped nickel ferromagnetic materials nanoparticles were utilized to degrade dyes. These nanoparticles were synthesized by the co-precipitation technique. A UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used to determine the band gap. These ferrites had band gap between 2.32eV to 2.20eV. The spinel structure of ferrites was characterized X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The shape and average size of synthesized nanoparticles was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fourier transform infrared FTIR shows metal-oxygen bond in the range of 400-1000cm-1. The photocatalytic degradation of dye under UV radiation and direct sunlight was studied. Almost 72 to 92 percent methylene blue dye was degraded in first 100 mints owing to the active octahedral to tetrahedral lattice sites and prevent the recombination of electron/hole pair. The photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB) and a few textile dyes was practised to examine the photocatalytic performance of Co-NiFe2O4. It was observed as the most effective photocatalyst for treating sewage.

Keywords: Cobalt chloride hexahydrate; Nickel chloride hexahydrate; Spinel ferrites; Methyl blue dye; Photocatalytic activity; Electron/hole pair recombination mechanism