Different Fuel-Adopted Combustion Syntheses of Nano-Structured NiCrFeO4: A Highly Recyclable and Versatile Catalyst for Reduction of Nitroarenes at Room Temperature and Photocatalytic Degradation of Various Organic Dyes in Unitary and Ternary Solutions

Bioinspired copper oxide nanocomposites: harnessing plant extracts for enhanced photocatalytic performance

This study focuses on developing copper oxide-based nanocomposites using plant extracts for photocatalytic applications. Curcuma amada leaf and Alysicarpus vaginalis leaf extracts were utilized alongside recycled copper precursors to synthesize photocatalysts via a green synthesis approach. Structural characterization through X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of monoclinic CuO with reduced crystallite sizes due to plant extract incorporation. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy identified additional functional groups from the plant extracts, enhancing the material's properties. UV-Vis spectroscopy demonstrated increased light absorption and narrowed bandgaps in the nanocomposites, crucial for efficient photocatalysis under visible light. Morphological studies using FESEM revealed unique leaf-like structures in nanocomposites, indicative of the plant extract's influence on morphology. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue, rhodamine B, Congo red, and reactive blue 171 dyes showed enhanced performance of plant extract-modified CuO compared to without plant extract mediated CuO, attributed to improved charge carrier separation and extended lifetime. The effects of pH, catalyst dosage, and dye concentration on degradation efficiency were systematically investigated, highlighting optimal conditions for each dye type. Radical scavenger studies confirmed the roles of holes and hydroxyl radicals in the degradation process. Kinetic analysis revealed pseudo-second-order kinetics for dye degradation, underscoring the effectiveness of the nanocomposites. Overall, this research provides insights into sustainable photocatalytic materials using plant extracts and recycled copper, showcasing their potential for environmental remediation applications.

Facile Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ag/Fe3O4/Cellulose Nanocomposite as Highly Active Catalyst for 4-Nitrophenol and Organic Dye Reduction

Novel effluent treatment solutions for dangerous organic pollutants are crucial worldwide. In recent years, chemical reduction using noble metal-based nanocatalysts and NaBH4, a reducing agent, has become common practice for eliminating organic contaminants from aquatic environments. We suggest a straightforward approach to synthesizing magnetic cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) modified with magnetite (Fe3O4) and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as a catalyst for organic contamination removal. Significantly, the CNC surface was decorated with Ag NPs without using any reducing agents or stabilizers. PXRD, FE-SEM, TEM, EDX, VSM, BET, and zeta potential tests characterized the Ag/Fe3O4/CNC nanocomposite. The nanocomposite's catalytic activity was tested by eliminating 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and the organic dyes methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) in an aqueous solution at 25 °C. The Ag/Fe3O4/CNC nanocomposite reduced 4-NP and decolored these hazardous organic dyes in a short time (2 to 5 min) using a tiny amount of catalyst (2.5 mg for 4-NP and 15 mg for MO and MB). The magnetic catalyst was removed and reused three times without losing catalytic activity. This work shows that the Ag/Fe3O4/CNC nanocomposite can chemically reduce harmful pollutants in effluent for environmental applications.

Role of Different Fuels and Sintering Temperatures in the Structural, Optical, Magnetic, and Photocatalytic Properties of Chromium-Containing Nickel Ferrite: Kinetic Study of Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye

In the present paper, nanocrystalline samples of NiCrFeO₄ were synthesized by the combustion method using different fuels such as glycine, urea, and poly(vinyl alcohol) and subjected to heat treatment at different temperatures of 600, 700, 800, and 1000 °C for 6 h. The formation of phases with highly crystalline structures was confirmed by XRD and Rietveld refinement analysis. The optical band gap of NiCrFeO₄ ferrites lies in the visible range, making them suitable photocatalysts. BET analysis reveals that the surface area of the phase synthesized using PVA is much higher than that synthesized using other fuels at each sintering temperature. In addition, there is a significant decrease in the surface area with sintering temperature for the catalysts prepared using the fuels PVA and urea, while it almost remains constant in the case of glycine. Magnetic studies demonstrate the dependence of saturation magnetization on the nature of the fuel and on the sintering temperature; moreover, the coercivity and squareness ratio confirm the single domain nature of all the synthesized phases. We have also performed photocatalytic degradation of the highly toxic Rhodamine B (RhB) dye by employing all the prepared phases as photocatalysts using the mild oxidant H₂O₂. It is observed that the photocatalyst prepared using PVA as the fuel exhibited the best photocatalytic activity at all sintering temperatures. All the three photocatalysts prepared using different fuels showed a decrease in the photocatalytic activity with increasing sintering temperature. From the chemical kinetic point of view, the degradation of RhB by all the photocatalysts was found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics.

New Rare Earth-Doped Bilayered Perovskite Oxide Photocatalysts Sr2La0.5R0.5FeMnO7 (R = La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy) for the Degradation of Highly Toxic Methylene Blue Dye in Wastewater under Visible Light: Structural, Optical, and Magnetic Properties

This paper presents the rare earth doping effect on the structural, optical, and magnetic properties of bilayered Ruddlesden-Popper oxides Sr₂La_0.5R_0.5FeMnO₇ (R = La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy). Moreover, we are reporting for the first time a new rare earth-doped bilayered perovskite oxide series for the highly toxic methylene blue dye degradation in wastewater under visible light. Structural analysis of the PXRD data using the Rietveld refinements confirms the formation of the phases in tetragonal symmetry with the I4/mmm space group. The unit cell lattice parameters (a & c) and the cell volume (V) decrease monotonically from La- to Dy-doped samples owing to the decrease in the lanthanide ionic radii. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicates the existence of the Mn ions in the mixed valence state. The DRS study shows that the energy band gap value decreases on moving from La to Gd substitution; however, it further increases for the Dy-doped sample. The magnetic measurements reveal that all the phases exhibit dominant anti-ferromagnetic interactions with Neel temperature (T _N) observed at 150, 147, 138, 113, and 117 K for La-, Nd-, Sm-, Gd-, and Dy-substituted phases, respectively. However, the presence of an unsaturated hysteresis loop observed in the isothermal magnetic field (H) vs magnetization (M) plot also indicates the existence of weak ferromagnetic interactions. The investigation of the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized samples was done by carrying out photo-oxidative degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye pollutants. The results show that the photodegradation enhances by doping with heavier rare earth ions with the exception of the Dy-doped sample. The Gd-doped catalyst shows the maximum degradation efficiency of 99.03% in 50 min under visible light irradiation. The scavenging experiments confirmed that the^·OH was the main/dominant oxidizing agent involved in the degradation of the MB dye.

Solvent-Free Combustion-Assisted Synthesis of LaFe0.5Cr0.5O3 Nanostructures for Excellent Photocatalytic Performance toward Water Decontamination: The Effect of Fuel on Structural, Magnetic, and Photocatalytic Properties

The present study reports the synthesis of nanocrystalline LaFe0.5Cr0.5O3 via a solvent-free combustion method using glycine, poly(vinyl alcohol), and urea as fuels, with superior photocatalytic activity. Rietveld refinement and powder X-ray diffraction data of nanomaterials demonstrate the existence of an orthorhombic phase that corresponds to the Pbnm space group. The crystallite size of nanoperovskite samples lies in the range of 20.9-36.4 nm. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of the LaFe0.5Cr0.5O3 fabricated using urea is found to be higher than that of the samples prepared using other fuels. The magnetic measurements of all samples done using a SQUID magnetometer showed a dominant antiferromagnetic character along with some weak ferromagnetic interactions. The optical band gap of all nanosamples lies in the visible range (2-2.6 eV), making them suitable photocatalysts in visible light. Their use as a photocatalyst for the degradation of the rhodamine B dye (model pollutant) is studied, and it has been observed that the catalyst fabricated using urea shows excellent degradation efficiency for rhodamine B, i.e., 99% in 60 min, with high reusability up to five runs. Additionally, the degradation of other organic dyes such as methylene blue, methyl orange, and a mixture of these dyes (rhodamine B + methylene blue + methyl orange) is also investigated with the most active photocatalyst, i.e., LFCO-U, to check its versatility.

Cation Incorporation and Synergistic Effects on the Characteristics of Sulfur-Doped Manganese Ferrites S@Mn(Fe2O4) Nanoparticles for Boosted Sunlight-Driven Photocatalysis

In the present work, sulfur-doped manganese ferrites S@Mn(Fe₂O₄) nanoparticles were prepared by using the sol-gel and citrate method. The concentration of sulfur varied from 1 to 7% by adding Na₂S. The samples were characterized by performing Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Visible). The synthesized sulfur-doped manganese ferrites were applied to evaluate the photocatalytic degradation of the dyes. Further, the degradation studies revealed that the nanoparticles successfully degraded the methylene blue dye by adding a 0.006 g dose under the sunlight. The sulfur-doped manganese ferrite nanoparticles containing 3% sulfur completely degraded the dye in 2 h and 15 min in aqueous medium. Thus, the ferrite nanoparticles were found to be promising photocatalyst materials and could be employed for the degradation of other dyes in the future.