Graphene oxide enhances the Fenton-like photocatalytic activity of nickel ferrite for degradation of dyes under visible light irradiation

Graphene oxide (GO) was added to nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) to yield GO-doped NiFe2O4 (GO-NiFe2O4). The as-prepared GO-NiFe2O4 samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry at room temperature. GO-NiFe2O4 was utilized as a photo-Fenton catalyst and found to be capable of catalyzing the degradation of organic dyes in the presence of oxalic acid under visible light irradiation. Further studies showed that GO-NiFe2O4 has a catalytic function in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Although the absorbance of the diffuse reflectance spectrum of NiFe2O4 extended to 788 nm, NiFe2O4 failed to degrade organic dyes in the presence of H2O2 despite white light irradiation containing ultraviolet light. The results of this study indicate that GO has a vital function in catalyzing the photo-Fenton process. The photo-catalytic reaction mechanism was investigated by analyzing the data obtained.