LAUSR

This study reports the facile atmospheric pressure microplasma-assisted synthesis of NiCo 2 O 4 nanocomposite with the cubic spinel phase. The prepared samples were investigated in terms of their structural, morphological, compositional, electrical and optical properties. It was observed that the spherically shaped NiCo 2 O 4 nanostructures have a face-centered cubic (fcc) crystalline structure with a space group of Fd-3 m. Raman spectra revealed a blue shift in the A1g and E2g modes which can be attributed to the nano-sized effect of NiCo 2 O 4 . Electrical properties showed a semiconducting behavior which can be explained by the nearest-neighbor hopping (NNH) process. The photocatalytic activity against rhodamine B dye aqueous solution was studied, and significant degradation was achieved after 120 min of solar irradiation. This understanding will be helpful for the fabrication and design of NiCo 2 O 4 nanostructure-based wastewater purification and energy storage nanodevices.