Synthesis and characterization of Fe(NO3)2-NiO composite as a photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue dye under UV-irradiation

Hydrothermal synthesis route has been employed to synthesize Fe(NO3)2-NiO composite. The studies related to the bonding in the composite were unveiled by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The investigations on structure, morphology and composition of elements in the composite were carried out using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) respectively. SEM images of the nanoparticles display spherical morphology for both Fe(NO3)2 and NiO present in the composite. The optical and molecular identification studies were taken using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy respectively. The thermal stability and characteristics of the composite were revealed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The composite manifests prodigious optical properties in addition to the proficient thermal stability. The band gap depicted from the UV-vis spectroscopy was 3.87 eV for NiO while 2.71 eV for Fe(NO3)2. Furthermore, the composite was investigated for photocatalytic characteristics using methylene blue (MB) dye by varying the time to study photodegradation. The results reveal the advantage of the composite to be used as a photocatalyst to cave in various organic impurities.