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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Sustainable Biofuels and Co-products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #412112
Research Project: Chemical Conversion of Biomass into High Value Products

Location: Sustainable Biofuels and Co-products Research

Title: Synthesis of a-NiS decorated Fe3S4 nanohybrid composite and its heterogeneous fenton catalysis for dye degradation

Author
item BHUYAN, PRIYANGA - Nowgong College
item SUT, NAYANA - Nowgong College
item BORAH, SHRISTIRUPA - Nowgong College
item HAZARIKA, SWAPNALI - Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR)
item Sharma, Brajendra - Bk
item KIM, JAEMIN - University Of Illinois
item GOGOI, PARIKSHIT - University Of Illinois

Submitted to: ChemistrySelect
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/24/2024
Publication Date: 11/5/2024
Citation: Bhuyan, P.M., Sut, N., Borah, S., Hazarika, S., Sharma, B.K., Gogoi, P. 2024. Synthesis of a-NiS decorated Fe3S4 nanohybrid composite and its heterogeneous fenton catalysis for dye degradation. ChemistrySelect. 9:e202402115. https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.202402115.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.202402115

Interpretive Summary: The destruction/removal of organic pollutants has emerged as an urgent need due to their environmental issues. Organic pollutants often are harmful and highly toxic to humans, they often exhibit endocrine disruption, teratogenicity, and the potential to cause cancer, even at minimal levels. Therefore, it has become necessary to protect the environment by developing efficient catalysts that are both cost-effective and stable in the reaction medium. Advanced oxidation processes are highly effective techniques for addressing water pollution. One such source of organic pollutants is printing and dyeing wastewater generated in the textile industries. In the present work, we synthesized a combination of two catalysts based on iron and nickel as a nanocomposite and it was found effective in degrading the organic dyes over a wide pH range. The catalyst composite was found to be stable and easy to separate from the water after the degradation of the organic dye. This approach could be used for the destruction of other organic pollutants, like pesticides, herbicides, forever chemicals, pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), etc. to treat wastewater generated in rural areas and agricultural run-off.

Technical Abstract: Greigite (Fe3S4) and millerite (NiS) are important transition metal sulphides that exhibit light-driven Fenton catalytic activity. Light promotes excitation and release of electrons, facilitating the redox conversion of Fe3+ to Fe2+ and Ni3+ to Ni2+, which are rate limiting steps in Fenton reaction. To utilize these properties without relying on light, we synergized these sulfides to prepare a composite. Fe3S4 exhibits effectiveness in acidic pH despite its lower stability, whereas millerite which is stable in alkaline pH also performs well under acidic conditions. The composite showed excellent Fenton activity, degrading 93% of Fast Green dye and 98.11% of EBT dye within short reaction times. The mechanism involves electron transfer from the reduced sulfur state (S2-) to the higher oxidation states of the metal sulfides. The addition of NiS further enhanced the catalyst's activity and stability and could be used for five catalytic cycles by recovering it from solution with an external magnet.