Band gap engineering of ADG/NiO nanocomposite and applications for photocatalytic reduction of nitrogen and photo-oxidation of dyes

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Shukla, Ravindra K.^a | Yadav, Rajesh K.^{a; *} | Gole, V.L.^{b; *} | Yadav, Mantesh Kumari^c | Singh, Chandani^e | Singh, Atul P.^d | Baeg, Jin OoK^{e; *} | Sharma, Kanchan^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P., India | [b] Department of Chemical Engineering, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, India | [c] Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Science, Starex University, Gurugram Harayana, India | [d] Department of Chemistry, Chandigarh University, Mohali, India | [e] Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, South Korea

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding authors: Rajesh K. Yadav, E-mail: rajeshkr_yadav2003@yahoo.co.in; V.L. Gole, E-mail: vlgch@mmmut.ac.in; Jin OoK Baeg, E-mail: jobaeg@krict.re.kr.

Abstract:  The use of solar-driven semiconductor photocatalysis to solve energy and environmental issues is an intriguing and difficult subject. As a consequence, various types of photocatalysts have been developed subsequently to fulfill the requirements of photocatalysis.Since graphene was discovered, materials based on graphene have garnered considerable interest. The aloe-vera derived (ADG)/nickel oxide (NiO) nanocomposite is a notable example of a graphene derivative.The uniform structure of graphene fibre is altered by nickel oxide(NiO) which tunes its band gap and causes electronic arrangements within graphene that is requiste for photocatalysis. Herein, we have used a one-pot chemical approach to design aloe vera-derived graphene/nickel oxide nanocomposites (ADG/NiO), a novel photocatalyst that show high molar absorbance, suitable band gap of 2.68 eV, good photo-stability and reusability. Under solar light irradiation, the ADG/NiO nanocomposite exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity. It effectively fixed nitrogen into ammonia with an apparent quantum efficiency(AQE) of 0.64% and efficiently photo-oxidized dyes. Specifically, it achieved a dye removal efficiency of 94.2% for methylene blue (MB) and 86.41% for Eosin-B, converting them into harmless inorganic species like CO2 and H2O within just 90 minutes. The cost-effective ADG/NiO nanocomposite shows significant potential as a photocatalyst activated by solar light for practical applications such as the selective generation of NH3 and the purification of industrial wastewater containing dyes.

Keywords: Energy gap engineering, adg/nio nanocomposite photocatalyst, nitrogen fixation, dyes photooxidation, solar light

DOI: 10.3233/MGC-240016

Journal: Main Group Chemistry, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 329-345, 2024