Natural sunlight energy harvesting using NiAl2O4@N-rGO hetero-junction for photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet dye: Kinetic and mechanistic insights

In this study, NiAl2O4 (NA) was synthesized by the co-precipitation route and its hetero-junctions were fabricated with N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) through the ultra-sonication method. The structural, morphological, magnetic, optical and photocatalytic properties of synthesized NA, N-rGO, and the NA@N-rGO 1–4 hetero-junctions characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, VSM, PL and UV–visible spectroscopy, respectively. XRD results showed that crystallite size decreases from 25.01 nm (NA) to 15.20 nm for NA@N-rGO-4 and porosity increases up to 77.7 % for NA@N-rGO-4 making it remarkable for photocatalytic applications and FTIR results confirmed the formation of N-rGO as well as its successful integration into NA matrix, resulting in the formation of hetero-junctions. Magnetic properties were investigated using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), revealing distinctive S-shaped hysteresis loops at 25 °C for both NA and N-rGO, as well as the NA@N-rGO 1–4 hetero-junctions and magnetic saturation decreases with an increase in N-rGO content as for NA@N-rGO-4 Ms drops to 0.0038 emu/g. Notably, the bandgap of NA@N-rGO-4 hetero-junction was effectively reduced from 3.0 eV (in the case of NA) to 2.1 eV, resulting in a discernible decrease in photoluminescence (PL) intensity and increase in e--h+ pair separation. Under visible light, NA@N-rGO-4 exhibited a remarkable 94.68 % efficiency in crystal violet (CV) dye degradation within just 90 min, outperforming NA's 59.05 % degradation efficiency and OH. Radicals play a major contribution to the degradation of dye. The optimization of degradation capabilities was achieved through the manipulation of catalyst dosage, dye concentration and varying pH values for the degradation of CV dye. NA@N-rGO-4 hetero-junction demonstrates the considerable potential for efficient dye degradation in wastewater under visible light, owing to its exceptional catalytic performance.