Structural investigation of Cu doped calcium ferrite (Ca1-xCuxFe2O4; x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1) nanomaterials prepared by co-precipitation method

Magnetic and optical properties of copper doped spinel calcium ferrite (Ca1-xCuxFe2O4; x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1) nanoparticles (NPs) have fascinated the attention of researchers. Spinel Ca1-xCuxFe2O4 NPs were prepared by co-precipiation technique. The as prepared compositions were subjected to structural, magnetic, electrical and optical properties. Cubic spinel phase was observed through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) studies and the lattice constant increased with increase in calcium concentration and the average crystallite size in the range 32–19 nm. Transmission Electron microscope (TEM) technique provided information on the morphology of the synthesized ferrites. FT-IR spectral bands observed at 579, 480 and 514 cm−1 confirmed the M−O vibration for Ca–O, Fe–O and Cu–O bands responsible for the formation of spinel. Magnetization, coercivity and retentivity were calculated from vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) studies. Hysteresis loops revealed the magnetic behavior of the prepared Ca1-xCuxFe2O4 NPs. The adsorption and desorption measurement were achieved from Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. Band gap of the prepared spinel ferrites were found to be 1.8–2.5 eV revealing semiconducting behaviour of the nanocatalysts. Frequency dependent dielectric studies revealed that at high frequency both dielectric constant and dielectric loss were decreased. The photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of the synthesized spinel ferrites with methylene blue (MB) as organic pollutant and their antibacterial activity was also studied. Ca0.2Cu0.8Fe2O4 (CCFO-5) nanocatalyst exhibited 96% degradation in 180 min with methylene blue dye.