Photocatalytic degradation of naphthol blue black dye using undoped and Al-doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

The current study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of undoped (CoFe₂O₄) and aluminium-doped cobalt spinel ferrite (CoFe_1.1Al_0.9O₄) nanoparticles as photocatalysts in the process of photocatalytic degradation of organic naphthol blue black (NBB) dye. In the sol-gel auto combustion method, a combination of metal nitrates, citric acid, sodium hydroxide, and liquid ammonia was utilized as the raw chemical ingredients for synthesizing nanoparticles of CoFe_2-xAl_xO₄ (x = 0.0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, 1.5) spinel ferrites. The nanoparticles were subjected to various characterization techniques including thermal analysis (TGA/DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and UV–visible spectroscopy for comprehensive analysis. The XRD analysis confirmed the presence of a spinel cubic structure in the synthesized spinel ferrite nanoparticles. The interplanar distance (d) and crystalline size (D) were determined using Bragg's equation and Scherrer's relationship, respectively. The morphological characteristics and elemental composition of the spinel ferrites were confirmed through FE-SEM and EDS. Furthermore, the UV spectrum of the synthesized photocatalyst was investigated to compare the energy band gap between undoped and Al-doped cobalt spinel ferrites. The analysis of photoluminescence (PL) spectra was conducted to investigate the dynamics of charge carriers, focusing on their transfer, relocation, and recombination processes. The surface area of the synthesized photocatalyst ranged from 3.525 to 16.113 m²/g. Photocatalytic degradation of naphthol blue black (NBB) dye was carried out under visible light exposure utilizing both cobalt spinel ferrite nanoparticles without doping and those doped with aluminium. Several factors, including pH level, H₂O₂ concentration, amount of photocatalyst (spinel ferrite) and initial dye concentration, were considered through the photocatalytic degradation of NBB dye. The highest percentage degradation (%) of NBB dye was determined at pH 11. For NBB dye with an initial concentration of 20 ppm, the maximum degradation was achieved using 200 mg of spinel ferrite nanoparticles per 100 mL dye solution under visible light irradiation for 40 min.