Investigation on SiO2 derived from sugarcane bagasse ash and pumice stone as a catalyst support for silver metal in the 4-nitrophenol reduction reaction

Immobilization of silver-loaded graphene oxide (Ag-GO) on canvas fabric support for catalytic conversion of 4 nitrophenol

Due to the rising human population and industrialization, harmful chemical compounds such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and various dyes are increasingly released into the environment, resulting in water pollution. It is essential to convert these harmful chemicals into harmless compounds to mitigate this pollution. This research focuses on synthesizing a novel heterogeneous catalyst using modified canvas fabric (CF) decorated with silver metal nanoparticles on graphene oxide nanosheets (Ag-GO/CF). The process involves coating the fabrics (CF) with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets through sonication. Subsequently, silver nanoparticles are deposited in situ and reduced on the GO surface, resulting in the formation of the Ag-GO/CF composite. Various physicochemical characterizations were conducted to examine the interfacial interactions between CF, GO, and Ag nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of the nanocomposite was assessed by hydrogenating 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The results showed that the 10%Ag-5%GO/CF with a surface of 6 cm2 (3 × 2 cm) exhibited the highest catalytic activity, achieving a reduction efficiency of over 96% in 5 min. The 4-NP reduction reaction rate was well-fitted with a pseudo-first-order kinetics model with an apparent reaction rate constant (Kapp) of 0.676 min-1. Furthermore, the Ag-GO/CF composite demonstrated remarkable stability over successive cycles, with no noticeable decrease in its catalytic activity, suggesting its promising application for long-term chemical catalytic processes. This synthesized composite can be easily added to and removed from the reaction solution while maintaining high catalytic performance in the reduction of 4-NP, and it could be beneficial in avoiding problems related to powder separation.

Investigation of the removal kinetics, thermodynamics and adsorption mechanism of anionic textile dye, Remazol Red RB, with powder pumice, a sustainable adsorbent from waste water

Excessive growth and abnormal use of dyes and water in the textile industry cause serious environmental problems, especially with excessive pollution of water bodies. Adsorption is an attractive, feasible, low-cost, highly efficient and sustainable technique in terms of green chemistry for the removal of pollutants from water. This study aims to investigate the removal kinetics, thermodynamics and adsorption mechanism of Remazol Red RB, which was chosen as a representative anionic reactive dye, from synthetic wastewater using powdered pumice, taking into account various experimental parameters such as initial dye concentration, adsorption time, temperature and pH. Moreover, to support the proposed adsorption mechanism, before and after adsorption of the samples, the Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) spectra, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) diffractograms and High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images were also taken and used. The results show that powder pumice can be an efficient adsorbent for anionic dye removal with a relatively high adsorption capacity of 38.90 mg/g, and it is very effective in 30-60 min in mild conditions. The experimental data showed a high agreement with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich adsorption isotherm equation. In addition, thermodynamically, the process exhibited exothermic nature and standard isosteric enthalpy and entropy changes of -4.93 kJ/mol and 16.11 J/mol. K were calculated. It was determined that the adsorption mechanism was predominantly based on T-shaped pi-pi interactions and had physical characteristics.