The study of photocatalytic characteristics of NiAl2O4 spinel and NiO/Al2O3 composites obtained in SCS reactions with glycine

•The NiAl2O4 catalyst exhibit photocatalytic activity, which depends on their calcination temperature after synthesis.•The oxidation rate gradually decreases in each subsequent oxidation cycle on NiO/Al2O3 composites.•The oxidation rate remains almost constant for spinel NiAl2O4.•The spinel structure defects were compared to the composite ones.