Enhanced magnetic and photocatalytic characteristics of cerium substituted spinel MgFe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles

Spinel MgCexFe2-xO4 (0 < x < 0.5) nanoparticles was equipped through microwave combustion technique using the extract of Aloe vera plant as the reducing agent. Impression of Ce3+ substitution on physic-chemical and photocatalytic characteristics are examined by the techniques, PXRD, FT-IR, HR-SEM, HR-TEM, SAED and VSM. Cubic spinel structure is ensured by PXRD analysis and the crystallite size was employed by Debye Scherer formula, revealed the ranges of 16.35-24.82 nm. HR-SEM, TEM pictures displayed particles like morphology and the SAED pattern revealed highly crystalline in nature. VSM analysis of MgCexFe2-xO4 (0 < x < 0.5) showed ferromagnetic behaviour. The photocatalytic behaviour was investigated under visible light irradiation by photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of Malachite Green dye. Among various compositions, sample x = 0.3, exhibit higher PCD efficiency as 98.94% in 90-min, corresponding to the degradation rate constant k value of up to 0.0321 min(-1). The synthesized catalyst shows good structural and excellent photocatalytic stability with higher degradation efficiency.