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ISSN: 2252-5211
International Journal of
Waste Resources
OPEN ACCESS Freely available online
Research Article
1
Int J Waste Resour, Vol. 10 Iss. 4 No: 385
Facile Synthesis and Characterization of rGO Decorated NiFe
2
O
4
Nano-
composite Obtained from Waste Ni-Cd/Ni-MH Batteries
Mylarappa M
1
*, Venkata Lakshmi V
2
, Kantharaju S
1
1
Department of Chemistry, Sri Jagadguru Renukacharya College of Science, Arts and Commerce, Bangaluru-560009, Karnataka, India;
2
Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, AMC Engineering College, Bengaluru-560083, Karnataka, India
ABSTRACT
The present study revealed the NiFe
2
O
4
/rGO composite synthesized from Ni-Cd/Ni-MH spent by hydrothermal
method. The obtained NiFe
2
O
4
nano particles was dispersed effectively on reduced graphene oxide and the obtained
composite was subjected to X-Ray powder diffraction (XRD) to know the particle crystallinity, size and structural
aspects. The nano sized NiFe
2
O
4
and NiFe
2
O
4
/rGO nano composite were exposed to study the surface particle
morphology by using Field emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The elements present in the sample
was analyzed by using Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDX), the functional groups identification was done by
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and the thermal stability was studies by using Thermogravimetry
analysis.
Keywords: Waste battery; NiFe
2
O
4
; NiFe
2
O
4
/rGO; Characterization; Thermal analysis
*Corresponding to: Mylarappa M, Department of Chemistry, Sri Jagadguru Renukacharya College of Science, Arts and Commerce,
Bangaluru-560009, Karnataka, India, Tel: +91-9742413751; E-mail: mylu4mkallihatti@gmail.com
Received: July 25, 2020; Accepted: August 27, 2020; Published: September 03, 2020
Citation: Mylarappa M, Venkata Lakshmi V, Kantharaju S (2020) Facile Synthesis and Characterization of rGO Decorated NiFe
2
O
4
Nano-
composite Obtained from Waste Ni-Cd/Ni-MH Batteries, Int J Waste Resour 10: 385. doi: 10.35248/2252-5211.20.10.385.
Copyright: 2020 © Mylarappa M, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
INTRODUCTION
Nickel ferrite (NiFe
2
O
4
) nanocrystalline is one of the most vital
ferrites among alternative ferrites from the spent battery because
of most favorable uses in Ferro fluids, gas sensors, storage
devices, catalysts and microwave devices [1-7]. Recently, extensive
consideration has been paid on NiFe
2
O
4
with variable size,
morphology and shape as well analogous applications were studied
[8,9]. In the synthesis of NiFe
2
O
4
, both chemical and physical
methods have been established with different surface morphology.
Compared to physical methods, the chemical methods have
benefits such as large scale production, low cost and reaction taking
place at very low temperature. The nano structured NiFe
2
O
4
has
been prepared by different process like sonochemical, polymeric
precursor, mechanical alloying, hydrothermal, and co-precipitation
methods [10-14].
The literature shows that a few works on the surface morphology
controlled preparation of the NiFe
2
O
4
nano particles. Newly,
fabricated NiFe
2
O
4
nano sheets using chemical method by
Gunjakar et al. [15]. Chu et al. synthesized nano cubes and
nanorods of NiFe
2
O
4
through hydrothermal process [16]. Zhang et
al. via polyethylene glycol method prepared NiFe
2
O
4
nano particles
[17], the hollow sphere NiFe
2
O
4
nano rods and their magnetic
properties was studied by Chen L et al. [18]. Also several studies
have concentrated on the synthesis of spinel nano ferrites because
of their quantum confinement effects, both chemical and physical
properties and their surface effects.
The nano NiFe
2
O
4
have AB
2
O
4
structure. In this structure, O
specifies the oxygen anion site and A and B shows tetrahedral and
octahedral cation sites [19]. The nickel ions (Ni
+2
) are located in B
sites and iron ions (Fe
3+
) are equally dispersed between A and B
sites. It is well known that combined metal oxide nano particles are
seemly very attractive to making the electrode materials due to their
controlling morphology and size, high surface energy, attractive
structural, magnetic and electronic activities, which improve their
catalytic performance [20-22].
In the synthesis of nano NiFe
2
O
4,
reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was
selected as solid subsidiary material to keep the nano NiFe
2
O
4
from
aggregation. The rGO based nano composite materials will have
increased electrochemical performance like reversibility, capacitive
action and cycling stability. The rGO doped nano composite
have been widely used as anodes for rechargeable batteries and
some recent studies shows the production of rGO based metal-
oxide anode materials have equitably good development [23,24].
For example, MgFe
2
O
4
/rGO composites was displayed excellent
cycling stability and rate capability synthesized by Zhang et al. and
SnO
2
/rGO nano hybrid exhibited that electrochemical Na-storage