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Babikir AH, Mao X, Du A, Riches JD, Ostrikov KK, O'Mullane AP. Electrochemical Nitrate-to-Ammonia Conversion Enabled by Carbon-Decoration of Ni─GaOOH Synthesized via Plasma-Assisted CO 2 Reduction. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024:e2311302. [PMID: 38429242 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202311302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
The release of nitrates into the environment leads to contaminated soil and water that poses a health risk to humans and animals. Due to the transition to renewable energy-based technologies, an electrochemical approach is an emerging option that can selectively produce valuable ammonia from nitrate sources. However, traditional metal-based electrocatalysts often suffer from low nitrate adsorption that reduces NH3 production rates. Here, a Ni-GaOOH-C/Ga electrocatalyst for electrochemical nitrate conversion into NH3 is synthesized via a low energy atmospheric-pressure plasma process that reduces CO2 into highly dispersed activated carbon on dispersed Ni─GaOOH particles produced from a liquid metal Ga─Ni alloy precursor. Nitrate conversion rates of up to 26.3 µg h-1 mg-1 cat are achieved with good stability of up to 20 h. Critically, the presence of carbon centers is central to improved performance where both Ni─C and NiO─C interfaces act as NO3- adsorption and reduction centers during the reaction. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the NiO─C and Ni─C reaction sites reduce the Gibbs free energy required for NO3- reduction to NH3 compared to NiO and Ni. Importantly, catalysts without carbon centers do not produce NH3 , emphasizing the unique effects of incorporating carbon nanoparticles into the electrocatalyst.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abd H Babikir
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
- Center for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
| | - Xin Mao
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
- Center for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
| | - Aijun Du
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
- Center for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
| | - James D Riches
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
- Center for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
- Central Analytical Research Facility, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
| | - Kostya Ken Ostrikov
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
- Center for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
| | - Anthony P O'Mullane
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
- Center for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
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Gul T, Khan I, Ahmad B, Ahmad S, Alsaiari AA, Almehmadi M, Abdulaziz O, Alsharif A, Khan I, Saeed K. Efficient photodegradation of methyl red dye by kaolin clay supported zinc oxide nanoparticles with their antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Heliyon 2023; 9:e16738. [PMID: 37313164 PMCID: PMC10258418 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Kaolin clay-supported Zinc oxide (ZnO/KC) and ZnO NPs nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by a chemical reduction process and used for the photodegradation of methyl red (MR) dye as a photocatalyst. Due to the interlayered porous structure of the KC, we achieved an extremely good association between ZnO NPs and KC. The product confirmation was conducted by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX), and Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR). SEM showed the irregular morphology of ZnO NPs, while ZnO/KC NCs were predominately round-shaped. Moreover, in both cases, NPs were present in both dispersed as well as agglomerated forms with an average particle size below 100 nm. The results acquired from photodegradation analyses show that ZnO NPs and ZnO/KC NCs degraded about 90 and 99% of MR dye respectively, under UV light in a short irradiation time of 10 min. The recovered and re-recovered ZnO NPs and ZnO/KC NCs also considerably photodegraded MR dye in an aqueous medium. The same NPs also exhibit promising bioactivities against two pathogenic bacteria, i.e., Citrobacter and Providencia. The antioxidant activity of ZnO/KC NCs reached to reasonable 70% compared to the 88% activity of the standard ascorbic acid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamanna Gul
- Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, KP, Pakistan
| | - Idrees Khan
- Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, KP, Pakistan
| | - Bashir Ahmad
- Centre of Biotechnology & Microbiology University of Peshawar, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan
- Institute of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, KP, Pakistan
| | - Shujaat Ahmad
- Department of Pharmacy, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, 18050, Pakistan
| | - Ahad Amer Alsaiari
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mazen Almehmadi
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Osama Abdulaziz
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulaziz Alsharif
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ibrahim Khan
- School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, 06974 Seoul, South Korea
| | - Khalid Saeed
- Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, KP, Pakistan
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Huang L, Gao G, Yang C, Li XY, Miao RK, Xue Y, Xie K, Ou P, Yavuz CT, Han Y, Magnotti G, Sinton D, Sargent EH, Lu X. Pressure dependence in aqueous-based electrochemical CO 2 reduction. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2958. [PMID: 37221228 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38775-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) is an approach to closing the carbon cycle for chemical synthesis. To date, the field has focused on the electrolysis of ambient pressure CO2. However, industrial CO2 is pressurized-in capture, transport and storage-and is often in dissolved form. Here, we find that pressurization to 50 bar steers CO2R pathways toward formate, something seen across widely-employed CO2R catalysts. By developing operando methods compatible with high pressures, including quantitative operando Raman spectroscopy, we link the high formate selectivity to increased CO2 coverage on the cathode surface. The interplay of theory and experiments validates the mechanism, and guides us to functionalize the surface of a Cu cathode with a proton-resistant layer to further the pressure-mediated selectivity effect. This work illustrates the value of industrial CO2 sources as the starting feedstock for sustainable chemical synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Huang
- CCRC, Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
- KAUST Solar Center (KSC), PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ge Gao
- CCRC, Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
- KAUST Solar Center (KSC), PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Chaobo Yang
- CCRC, Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
- National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Tunable Laser, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Xiao-Yan Li
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada
| | - Rui Kai Miao
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G8, Canada
| | - Yanrong Xue
- CCRC, Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
- KAUST Solar Center (KSC), PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ke Xie
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada
| | - Pengfei Ou
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada
| | - Cafer T Yavuz
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center (AMPM), PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yu Han
- Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center (AMPM), PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Gaetano Magnotti
- CCRC, Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
| | - David Sinton
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G8, Canada.
| | - Edward H Sargent
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada.
| | - Xu Lu
- CCRC, Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
- KAUST Solar Center (KSC), PSE, KAUST, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
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Ren C, Ni W, Li H. Recent Progress in Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2. Catalysts 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/catal13040644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
A stable life support system in the spacecraft can greatly promote long-duration, far-distance, and multicrew manned space flight. Therefore, controlling the concentration of CO2 in the spacecraft is the main task in the regeneration system. The electrocatalytic CO2 reduction can effectively treat the CO2 generated by human metabolism. This technology has potential application value and good development prospect in the utilization of CO2 in the space station. In this paper, recent research progress for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 was reviewed. Although numerous promising accomplishments have been achieved in this field, substantial advances in electrocatalyst, electrolyte, and reactor design are yet needed for CO2 utilization via an electrochemical conversion route. Here, we summarize the related works in the fields to address the challenge technology that can help to promote the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. Finally, we present the prospective opinions in the areas of the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, especially for the space station and spacecraft life support system.
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Khan N, Gul T, Khan I, Alabbad EA, Ali S, Saeed K, Khan I. Scavenging of Organic Pollutant and Fuel Generation through Cost-Effective and Abundantly Accessible Rust: A Theoretical Support with DFT Simulations. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 16:142. [PMID: 36614481 PMCID: PMC9821181 DOI: 10.3390/ma16010142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Waste management and energy generation are the foremost concerns due to their direct relationship with biological species and the environment. Herein, we report the utilization of iron rust (inorganic pollutant) as a photocatalyst for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) dye (organic pollutant) under visible light (economic) and water oxidation (energy generation). Iron rust was collected from metallic pipes and calcined in the furnace at 700 °C for 3 h to remove the moisture/volatile content. The uncalcined and calcined rust NPs are characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphological study illustrated that the shape of uncalcined and calcined iron rust is spongy, porous, and agglomerated. The XRD and DLS particle sizes are in a few hundred nanometers range. The photodegradation (PD) investigation shows that calcined rust NPs are potent for the PD of modeled MB, and the degradation efficiency was about 94% in a very short time of 11 min. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements revealed that calcined rust NPs are more active than uncalcined rust under simulated 1 SUN illumination with the respective photocurrent densities of ~0.40 and ~0.32 mA/cm2. The density functional theory simulations show the chemisorption of dye molecules over the catalyst surface, which evinces the high catalytic activity of the catalyst. These results demonstrate that cheaper and abundantly available rust can be useful for environmental and energy applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nisar Khan
- Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Charsadda 24540, Pakistan
| | - Tamanna Gul
- Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Charsadda 24540, Pakistan
| | - Idrees Khan
- Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Charsadda 24540, Pakistan
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
| | - Eman A. Alabbad
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1980, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
| | - Shahid Ali
- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khalid Saeed
- Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Charsadda 24540, Pakistan
| | - Ibrahim Khan
- School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea
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Mansha M, Ahmad T, Ullah N, Akram Khan S, Ashraf M, Ali S, Tan B, Khan I. Photocatalytic Water-Splitting by Organic Conjugated Polymers: Opportunities and Challenges. CHEM REC 2022; 22:e202100336. [PMID: 35257485 DOI: 10.1002/tcr.202100336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The future challenges associated with the shortage of fossil fuels and their current environmental impacts intrigued the researchers to look for alternative ways of generating green energy. Solar-driven water splitting into oxygen and hydrogen is one of those advanced strategies. Researchers have studied various semiconductor materials to achieve potential results. However, it encountered multiple challenges such as high cost, low photostability and efficiency, and required multistep modifications. The conjugated polymers (CPs) have emerged as promising alternatives for conventional inorganic semiconductors. The CPs offer low cost, sufficient light absorption efficiency, excellent photo and chemical stability, and molecular optoelectronic tunable characteristics. Furthermore, organic CPs also present higher flexibility to tune the basic framework of the backbone of the polymers, amendments in the sidechain to incorporate desired functionalities, and much-needed porosity to serve better for photocatalytic applications. This review article summarizes the recent advancements made in visible-light-driven water splitting covering the aspects of synthetic strategies and experimental parameters employed for water splitting reactions with special emphasis on conjugated polymers such as linear CPs, planarized CPs, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3 N4 ), conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and conjugated polymer-based nanocomposites (CPNCs). The current challenges and future prospects have also been described briefly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Mansha
- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Tauqir Ahmad
- Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nisar Ullah
- Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.,Interdisciplinary Research Center for Refining and Advanced Chemicals, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Safyan Akram Khan
- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Ashraf
- Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Shahid Ali
- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Bein Tan
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Ibrahim Khan
- School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Seoul, 06974, South Korea
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Abstract
The unavailability of clean drinking water is one of the significant health issues in modern times. Industrial dyes are one of the dominant chemicals that make water unfit for drinking. Among these dyes, methylene blue (MB) is toxic, carcinogenic, and non-biodegradable and can cause a severe threat to human health and environmental safety. It is usually released in natural water sources, which becomes a health threat to human beings and living organisms. Hence, there is a need to develop an environmentally friendly, efficient technology for removing MB from wastewater. Photodegradation is an advanced oxidation process widely used for MB removal. It has the advantages of complete mineralization of dye into simple and nontoxic species with the potential to decrease the processing cost. This review provides a tutorial basis for the readers working in the dye degradation research area. We not only covered the basic principles of the process but also provided a wide range of previously published work on advanced photocatalytic systems (single-component and multi-component photocatalysts). Our study has focused on critical parameters that can affect the photodegradation rate of MB, such as photocatalyst type and loading, irradiation reaction time, pH of reaction media, initial concentration of dye, radical scavengers and oxidising agents. The photodegradation mechanism, reaction pathways, intermediate products, and final products of MB are also summarized. An overview of the future perspectives to utilize MB at an industrial scale is also provided. This paper identifies strategies for the development of effective MB photodegradation systems.
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