Synthesis of magnetic nano-NiFe2O4 with the assistance of ultrasound and its application for photocatalytic degradation of Titan Yellow: Kinetic and isotherm studies

Textile industries wastewaters lead to the production of great volumes of color and hazardous material pollution. A photocatalytic degradation is an approach that provides the chance to reduce organic pollutants like dye-containing effluents. The main aim of the present study was to prepare mixed-metal-oxide of NiFe2O4 magnetic in the presence of octanoic acid using the co-precipitation technique as an efficient photocatalyst for photodegradation of Titan Yellow (TY) from an aqueous medium. Various methods, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and x-ray diffraction patterns were employed to characterize the prepared photocatalyst. The magnetic characterization of the synthesized photocatalyst was also evaluated utilizing a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Photocatalytic properties of nanocatalyst for the photodegradation of TY from aqueous solution were assessed by studying influential parameters, such as concentration of the dye (10 mg/L), the temperature of the solution (40 °C), amount of catalyst (10 mg), time of irradiance of UV light (20 min), and solution pH = 5. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics models evaluations were demonstrated that the process of adsorption was well matched by Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The maximum adsorption capacity was obtained at 19.193 mg/g by the Langmuir model. The results depicted that NiFe2O4 nanocatalyst has a satisfactory performance in photodegradation of dye pollutants under UV light.