Effect of Ni and Zn co-substitutions on structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of Cu1-3xNixZn2xFe2O4 ferrite

In this work, the structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of Cu1-3xNixZn2xFe2O4 ferrites prepared by citrate-nitrate method were investigated. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis spectrometer at room temperature. Examining the XRD patterns indicates the presence of a spinel structural phase transition from a tetragonal to cubic structure, which shows an increase in symmetry with the co-substitution of Ni and Zn in the copper ferrite. The bandgap values of the samples show a minimum value of 1.43 eV for x = 0.05. The highest catalytic activity of 95% in the degradation of methylene blue is obtained for the x = 0.05 sample due to its smaller energy gap.