Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Activity of Super Acids (SO4/Fe2.04Co1.08−XNi0.88+XO4, X = 0.23) Derived from Metal Oxide by Sol–Gel Route

Many researchers have tried to synthesize solid super acids due to their many advantages over conventional liquid acids and hence, in this work, novel solid super acids are successfully synthesized by adopting sol–gel method followed by modification using sulphuric acid solution results in a change in morphological structure from spherical to cubic, spherical to tetragonal, spherical to square planar, and spherical to pyramidal when following various pH and temperature. The synthesized solid super acids and the intermediate nanocomposite are analyzed by IR, UV–Visible, Raman, TGA, XRD, SEM–EDX and Anti-Cancer Activity. The predicted functional groups such as Fe–O, Co–O, Ni–O of nanocomposite, Fe–O, Co–O, Ni–O, SO4of super acids and sulphate coated nanocomposite are confirmed by its FT-IR spectra. In the UV–Visible spectra of nano compounds, the d–d transition of A1, A2, A3, A4 and its modified modes are observed around 450 nm, 325 nm, 440 nm, 440 nm respectively. The Raman spectra of the nanocomposite showed expected stretching vibrations. The TGA spectrum of nanocomposite, super acid, and sulphate coated nanocomposite showed multiple stages of decomposition related to crystalline phase change. The XRD results show that the synthesized nanomaterials are crystalline in nature and cubic structure is revealed by FESEM analysis. Cancer cells are severely damaged without causing damage to normal cells when utilising solid super acids and sulphate coated nanocomposite rather than nanocomposite, as determined by anti-cancer studies. The catalytic activity of nanocomposite coated with super acid and sulphate is higher than that of nanocomposite tested through the esterification process.