Highly efficient and simultaneous catalytic reduction of multiple toxic dyes and nitrophenols waste water using highly active bimetallic PdO–NiO nanocomposite

The crystalline nature and phase purity of the synthesized NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO nanocomposite were confirmed by XRD analysis and shown in Fig. 1a. All three XRD patterns show the highly crystalline nature, which confirms the purity of the samples. In PdO–NiO mixed metal oxide, The intense diffraction peaks at 2θ = 37.16, 43.24, 62.81, 75.32 and 79.34° indexed to (101), (012), (110), (113) and (202) planes of the cubic phase of NiO, which is highly consistent with standard JCPDS NO: 01-071-4751²⁰. On the other hand, the sharp peaks at 2θ = 34.54 and 55.79° indexed to (101) and (112) planes corresponding to the tetragonal crystalline phase of PdO with an average lattice parameter 3.043 Å, which is highly associated with standard JCPDS NO: 043-1024²¹. Interestingly, metallic diffraction peaks and other impurity phases were not observed in the hybrid PdO–NiO nanocomposite. This confirming that metal source (Pd) completely oxidized to the metal oxide (PdO) and formed hybrid PdO–NiO nanocomposite. In addition, the single metal oxide (PdO, NiO) diffraction patterns were compared in Fig. 1a.

The sharp peaks of each metal oxide confirm the high crystallinity of the tetragonal phase of the PdO and cubic phase of NiO. Both diffraction pattern of the single metal oxides is well associated with standard JCPDS file: 01-071-4751 and 043-1024 respectively. The average crystallite size, micro-strains of the NiO, PdO and PdO doped NiO were calculated by using Scherrer analysis and W–H analysis and plotted in Fig. 1b. A small variation was observed in the crystallite size of the catalysts (PdO, NiO and PdO–NiO) in Fig. 1b, which is due to the difference in the distribution of the crystal in the catalysts. The average crystallite size of the PdO, NiO and PdO–NiO was found to be 10.8, 7.8 and 7.36 nm, respectively. The PdO doping reduces the crystallite size in the PdO–NiO composite, consistent with previous reports. The calculated crystallite sizes, d-spacing, micro-strains, and binding energies of the PdO, NiO, and PdO–NiO are shown in the Table 1. In addition, the experimentally calculated d-spacing value of the pure PdO and NiO was well correlated with theoretical values and shown in Table SI. 1. The synthesized catalyst showed the negative and positive slopes of ε are corresponds to the compressive and tensile stress, respectively.

Furthermore, the chemical bonding and functional groups were analyzed by FTIR spectrometer. Figure 1c show FTIR spectra of the synthesized NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO nanocomposite. Similar spectra were observed for the three catalyst, the absorption peaks at high-frequency region 3200–3400 cm⁻¹ belongs to O–H stretching vibration of the water molecules, due to surface adsorption phenomenon. Furthermore, three absorption peaks appeared at 1398.2, 1237.8 and 1057.8 cm⁻¹, which ascribed to the C–O, CH₂ and C=O stretching vibrations, which is well associated with XPS analysis data. The metal oxide bonding peaks appeared in the frequency range of 480.2–702.6 cm⁻¹. Hence the Pd–O and Ni–O stretching frequency in the PdO doped NiO sample confirmed the formation of hybrid PdO–NiO nanocomposite²². After that, the thermal stability of the PdO–NiO nanocomposite was studied by TGA analysis. Figure 1d shows the thermogram of the PdO–NiO nanocomposite. The first weight loss (7%) started in the temperature range of 65 to 180 °C. Due to the H2O molecules, evaporation and then the sustainable weight loss of around 10% was observed in the range of 187 to 574 °C. Beyond 600 °C a significant weight loss 20% was observed, which may be assigned to the unreacted CO₃ combustion²³. Hence, the XRD, FTIR and TGA spectral studies confirmed the formation of hybrid PdO–NiO nanocomposite.

The electronic state and chemical bonding of the PdO doped NiO composite was analyzed by using XPS spectra. Figure 2 shows the XPS spectra of the PdO–NiO nanocomposite, the broad scan spectrum (Fig. SI. 1) of the PdO–NiO, which show the existence of the Pd (3d), Ni (2p), O (1s) and C(1s) elements. The deconvoluted Pd 3d XPS spectrum in Fig. 2a shows two major peaks at a binding energy of 336.4 and 342.2 eV corresponds to spin–orbit doublets of Pd 3d^5/2 and Pd 3d^3/2, respectively, which confirmed Pd²⁺ ions in the form of PdO in the PdO–NiO nanocomposite^24,25. In addition, the satellite peak of Pd species appeared at a binding energy of 339.2 eV and 345.3 eV. In Ni 2p spectra (Fig. 2b), Ni 2p^3/2 and Ni 2p^3/2 spin–orbit doublets peaks were observed at 854.9 eV and 872.5 eV, which corresponded to Ni–O and Ni–OH, respectively and their corresponding satellite peaks are located at a binding energy of 867.2 eV and 879.1 eV^26,27. Furthermore, O 1s spectra (Fig. 2c) show the two peaks at a binding energy of 529.3 eV and 534.2 eV, which ascribed M–O and M–OH species. The obtained XPS spectra of the PdO–NiO nanocomposite are well associated with the XRD and EDX analysis.

The morphology feature and elemental composition of the prepared NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO nanocomposite was scrutinised by FE-SEM. Figure 3 shows the SEM morphology images of NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO nanocomposite at low and high magnification. Pure metal oxides NiO and PdO samples in Fig. 3a–d shows the porous crystalline morphology with high purity of the respective elements. On the other hand, PdO doped NiO sample in Fig. 3e,f shows the uniform, monodisperse, spherical crystalline morphology. Which confirms that PdO uniformly distributed with NiO. Hence, the PdO doping enhances the surface area of the catalyst. In addition, the elemental composition and elemental mapping was analysed for PdO–NiO sample and shown in Fig. 3g,h. The EDX spectra and elemental mapping clearly confirms the presence of the Pd, Ni and O elements in the composite with high purity.

The detailed morphology and particle size distribution of the PdO–NiO NPs was measured by HR-TEM and the results are presented in Fig. 4. Figure 4a–c shows the typical HRTEM images of the as-synthesized PdO–NiO nanocomposite. The obtained TEM images confirmed the uniform distribution of the spherical PdO–NiO NPs, which agrees with FESEM results. In Fig. 4c (inset), the histogram reveals that formed PdO–NiO nanoparticles are uniformly distributed with an average particle size of about 9.64 ± 2.1 nm, which is well associated with XRD crystallite size. Furthermore, the SAED pattern was analyzed to understand the crystallinity and the crystal quality of the PdO–NiO nanoparticles are shown in Fig. 4d. The clear ring-like structure suggests the polycrystalline nature of PdO–NiO. The obtained diffraction rings d-spacing values are corresponding to the (101), (012), (110), (113) and (202) planes of the NiO nanoparticles. Figure 4e shows the lattice fringes of the PdO doped NiO nanoparticles. The fringes show the lattice planes for both metal oxides. The interplanar d-spacing value of 0.1997 nm to correspond to the (012) plane of the NiO phase and the d-spacing value of 0. 2145 nm to correspond to the (110) plane of the PdO in the composite. Which is well correlated with the XRD d-spacing values. Elemental mapping in Fig. 4f shows the presence of Ni, Pd and O elements with uniform distribution as similar as SEM mapping. The morphology results of the synthesized catalysts are well associated with XRD, FTIR and XPS analysis.

UV–Vis absorption spectra were analyzed for the as-synthesized catalysts NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO and the respective results are presented in Fig. 5a. The absorption spectra show the strongest absorption maxima at 234.8 nm for all three catalysts. In addition, the characteristic absorption band of NiO and PdO were observed at 338.2 nm and 422.1 nm respectively²³, on the other hand, no characteristic absorption band was observed for PdO–NiO sample. Furthermore, the bandgap energy was calculated for three catalysts by using the Schuster-Kubelka–Munk function.

The bandgap energy (E_g) was achieved by extrapolating against the photon energy and the obtained results are shown in Fig. 5b. The calculated bandgap (E_g) of NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO are 4.05 eV, 3.84 eV and 4.24 eV, respectively²⁵ (Fig. 5b, inset). The PdO doping with NiO increases its bandgap value. This suggests that the PdO interface and NiO interface are closely combined in the composite. The obtained band gap value of the catalysts is much higher than the reported bandgap energy. The bandgap energy is highly dependent on the particle’s size. The bandgap energy increases with decreasing particle size, which confirmed that the synthesized catalysts are in nanoscale. The bandgap energy (Eg) of the PdO–NiO catalyst is well associated with FESEM and TEM results.

The photoluminescence (Pl) spectra of NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO materials were measured at 325 nm excitation wavelength and presented in Fig. 6. Figure 6a shows the Pl spectra of the pure NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO nanocomposite. The blue/violet emission was observed for all three samples at 364 nm due to the excitation of 3d⁸ electrons of Ni²⁺ ions from the conduction band to the valence band²⁴. From Fig. 6a, it can be seen that the intensity of the PdO–NiO nanocomposite is lower than the pure NiO and PdO, which indicated the higher electron transfer between the NiO and PdO, which is well correlated with electrochemical results. The deconvoluted PL spectra of NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO materials are shown in Fig. 6b–d; four peaks have been fitted for each sample as shown in Fig. 6b–d. The UV emission at 364 nm (3.4 eV) corresponds to the near band edge (NBE) excitation of NiO²⁵. The obtained PL spectra confirmed that the PdO–NiO nanocomposite has more conductivity than the pure metal oxides.

The electrode kinetics of the NiO, PdO and PdO–NiO modified GC electrode was explored in 1 M KOH at different scan rate variation at room temperature. In addition, the resistance of the aforesaid electrodes was monitored in impedance analysis and shown in Fig. 7. Figure 7a, the NiO/GC show a pair of well-defined redox peaks at around 0.49 V and 0.44 V respectively, which corresponding to the reversible reaction between Ni²⁺ and Ni³⁺²⁶. In addition, the redox peak currents linearly increase with increasing scan rate.

Figure 7b shows CV pattern of PdO/GC electrode in 1 M KOH solution, which sows poor peaks palladium oxide and palladium reduction peak at 0.52 V and 0.53 V respectively due to the formation of oxyhydroxide on the electrode surface in basic medium. Whereas the PdO–NiO NPs modified GC electrode in Fig. 7c show well-defined Ni²⁺ and Ni³⁺ kinetics with eightfold higher peak current. Which confirms the Efficient electron transfer between NiO and PdO in the composite. Which is well associated with PL results. Furthermore, the impedance spectra were achieved for three electrodes at fixed over potential (500 mV s⁻¹) in 1 M KOH electrolyte and presented in Fig. 7d. In Fig. 7d the Rct value of the pure metal oxides NiO/GC and PdO/GC electrode were obtained as 236 Ω and 2702 Ω respectively. Whereas the bimetal oxide PdO–NiO/GC show 425.7 Ω, which is lower than the pure PdO. Due to the superior electron transformation between each metal oxide.

Catalytic reduction of Azo compounds

Azo compounds are highly toxic to the environment as well as human beings. Especially, nitrophenols are listed as the topmost hazardous chemical in the world. Hence the reduction of nitrophenols gains the most attention. Generally, the nitrophenol reduction reaction is thermodynamically favourable (E⁰ = − 0.76 V) at optimized conditions, whereas the NaBH₄ acts as a reducing agent (E⁰ = − 1.33 V)^27,28. However, the reduction rate is prolonged without the catalyst due to the kinetic barrier between the reducing agent and reactant. Hence, the catalytic reduction nitrophenols are a good way to convert to non-toxic aminophenol (AP) with the presence of NaBH₄ as a reducing agent. The reduction reaction was easily monitored with a UV–Vis spectrometer. It is known that NaBH₄ alone cannot reduce the nitrophenols into aminophenol’s. As shown in Fig. SI. 2 the fresh nitrophenols (NP, DNP and TNP) absorption peak appeared at 300–370 nm respectively. When the addition of reducing agent, the peak was shifted to 402–450 nm²⁸. In addition, the solution color was turned light yellow to deep yellow, due to the formation of corresponding nitrophenolate ions in basic solution. However, no reduction was achieved over 2 h, indicating that nitrophenolate ions were very stable with NaBH₄. Furthermore, the catalytic activity of the NiO was explored with three nitrophenols and shown in Fig. SI. 3. The pure NiO exhibits a poor catalytic reduction of nitro compounds. In contrast, the PdO–NiO catalyst show excellent activity on the nitrophenols, as shown in Fig. 8.

It can be seen that the nitrophenolate peak absorbance at 400 nm gradually decreases with reaction time, which confirmed that PdO–NiO promotes the electron and hydrogen transfer between the reactant. Due to the higher active sites of the PdO–NiO. The present PdO–NiO catalyst completes the reduction reaction of NP, DNP and TNP within 10, 13, 25 min respectively. In addition, the aminophenol absorption peak appeared around 300 nm for all three nitrophenols. On the other hand, the deep yellow solution turned colorless, indicating the formation of aminophenol. The rate constant κ_app for each nitrophenol was calculated from the plot of ln (A_t/A_o) Vs. time. The proposed PdO–NiO catalyst exhibits excellent rate constant 0.1667, 0.0997, 0.0686 min⁻¹ for NP, DNP and TNT, respectively, which is the higher rate constant than the previously reported catalyst (Table SI. 2). Generally, the reduction mechanism of nitrophenols to aminophenols follows many intermediate steps from nitro to nitroso and then to hydroxylamine and to final aminophenol. For these reaction required both electron transfer and active hydrogen atoms. Here, the BH₄⁻ ions produce the active hydrogen atoms on the surface of the catalyst and subsequently, the PdO–NiO catalyst enhances the electron transfer. As a result, the reduction of NP could be efficiently accelerated by the PdO–NiO catalyst. Furthermore, comparison of the catalytic reduction performance of nitrophenols with varies catalyst are shown in Table SI. 2. The reduction mechanism of the nitrophenols with PdO–NiO catalyst with NaBH₄ as shown in Fig. SI. 6.

Furthermore, the catalytic activity of PdO–NiO composite was explored by the reduction of organic azo dye compounds such as Methylene blue (MB), Rhodamine B (RhB) and Methyl orange (MO) with the addition of NaBH₄ in the presence of PdO–NiO catalyst²⁹. The reduction of each dye was monitored at different absorption peaks, as shown in Fig. 9. The intensity of each dye at respective wavelengths linearly reduced with time in the presence of the PdO–NiO. In addition, the reduction rate κapp for each dye was calculated from the plot of ln (A_t/A_o) Vs. time. PdO–NiO catalyst exhibited excellent reduction rate as 0.099, 0.0416 and 0.0896 min⁻¹ for MB, RhB and MO, respectively, superior catalytic activity than previous reports. In addition, the azo dye solution turned into colourless, indicating the complete reduction occurs in the presence of PdO–NiO. The pure NiO catalyst exhibits poor reduction activity towards azo dyes with the presence of NaBH₄ (Fig. SI. 4). Furthermore, comparison of the catalytic reduction performance azo dyes with varies catalyst are shown in Table. SI. 3. Additionally, the reduction of the mixture of nitrophenols (NP, DNP and TNP) and azo dyes (MB, RhB and MO) was tested with PdO–NiO nanocomposite and obtained results are shown in Fig. 10. Initially, the mixture of azo compounds is formed dark solution then rapidly turned into a colourless and became a transparent solution with the addition of PdO–NiO in the presence of NaBH₄³⁰. The complete azo compounds reduction was achieved within 8 min. Hence, the proposed PdO–NiO is a promising catalyst for wastewater treatment. In addition, the effect of the catalyst loading on the reduction of mixture of azo compounds were studied with different loading amount of PdO–NiO catalyst (3–10 mg) and shown in the Table. SI. 4. Which show that the reduction rate increased with loading amount of the catalyst. In addition, the catalytic reduction performance of toxic azo compounds by various catalysts are shown in Table. 2. PdO–NiO catalyst exhibit superior reduction performance than the previously reported catalyst.

Furthermore, the reduction mechanism of azo dyes over PdO–NiO catalyst with reducing agent shown in Fig. SI. 7.

After the complete reduction reaction, the catalyst property was analyzed to understand the stability of PdO–NiO. In Fig. 11a, FTIR spectra showed no noticeable changes before and after catalytic reduction of mixture reduction. Additionally, the SEM image (Fig. 11b) also showed no changes in the morphology of the PdO–NiO. In addition, HR-TEM image (Fig. 11c) was also analyzed to study the change in the particles size after catalytic reduction, show no considerable change in the particle size. Which proved that PdO–NiO is highly stable in the reduction conditions.

Source: Ecology - nature.com