Multifunctional NiFe2O4 nanoparticles for sodium-ion batteries, sensing, and photocatalysis

NiFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted great attention in vast fields such as sodium-ion batteries (NaIBs), bio-sensing, and catalysis. In this direction, herein, NiFe2O4 NPs were synthesized by simple co-precipitation method using cetrimide as a surfactant and is characterized by different physico-chemical techniques. NiFe2O4 was examined as negative electrode for NaIB. NiFe2O4 anode exhibited excellent electrochemical and mechanical stability. It delivered high specific capacity of 1103 mA h g-1 in the first cycle which is much higher than its theoretical capacity (915 mA h g-1) and capacity of 200 mA h g-1 was achieved at the end of 100 cycles. It exhibited excellent catalytic activity towards electrochemical oxidation of uric acid (UA) and studied in detail through cyclic voltammograms. Apart from this, it showed good photocatalytic activity under visible light radiation for the degradation of mixed organic dyes.