Synthesis of mesoporous nickel ferrite nanoparticles by use of citrate framework methodology and application for electrooxidation of glucose in alkaline media.

• A novel electrocatalytic NiFe 2 O 4 -nanoparticles (NFNPs) material was successfully fabricated via the citrate framework methodology. • Physicochemical tools including FT-IR, FE-SEM, XRD, TEM, HR-TEM, SAED BET, and EDX were studied to confirm the structure of NFNPs material. • CV at different scan-rate and glucose-contents followed by EIS were used to study the glucose electrooxidation. • NFNPs material as low-cost and simply prepared presents electrocatalyst towards the high-performance glucose oxidation in alkaline medium. Electrooxidation of glucose in alkaline media is a critical issue as a clean source for Fuel cell application. The using of noble metals as anodes obstructs the economic cost of the glucose fuel cells (GFC S). That is why the trend is towards the recent doped metal oxides designs as low-cost anodes electrocatalysts. Here, Nickel ferrite (NiFe 2 O 4) nanoparticles (NFNPs) were simply prepared by the formation of citrate framework followed by combustion and calcination as a promising anode for GFC S at high pH. The as-designed NFNPs were investigated in terms of FE-SEM, TEM, EDX, and XRD analyses. The crystallinity study confirms the formation of NiFe 2 O 4 cubic spinel with a crystallite size of around 13.7 nm. The surface morphology has a sponge-like structure with an irregular shape of pores. The diameters of sponge are varying, and the average is around ~ 572 nm. The successful formation of a porous network can be related to the releasing of considerable amounts of gaseous products during the combustion process at 180 °C and calcination process at 400 °C. The synthesized NFNPs showed enhanced electrocatalytic characteristics at different glucose contents up to 60.0 mM. Besides the high produced current, the enhanced stability and charge transfer were observed for the application of NFNPs in GEO. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]