Active Photo-Catalytic Characteristics towards Methyl Orange Synthetic Dye for Eco-Friendly Produced Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles

Vithal Vinayak

Abstract: In this article, pristine cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles were fabricated via ecofriendly sol-gel auto-ignition procedure. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) were employed to examine the structural, microstructural, and magnetic properties, respectively. Analysis of the XRD patterns indicates the development of a cubic spinel phase without any contamination peaks. The average crystallite size was determined to be in the nanometer range, consistent with TEM results i.e. 33 nm. The magnetic properties of the sample were assessed using VSM at room temperature (300 K). Key magnetic parameters, including saturation magnetization Ms = 31.44 emu/g, remanent magnetization Mr = 19.18 emu/g, and coercivity Hc = 830.5 Oe, were extracted from the M-H curve. The nanocrystalline sample exhibited a soft ferrimagnetic behavior. Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles demonstrated remarkable oxidative degradation activity towards methyl orange azo dye, a compound commonly used in the textile industry and known for its resistance to biodegradation.

Keywords: cobalt ferrite, sol-gel, nanoparticles, magnetic, photocatalyst