Synthesis, Characterization, and Multifunctional Applications of Cu-Fe and Ni-Fe Nanomaterials

Kausar Shaheen; Zarbad Shah; Ambreen Asad; Tofail Arshad; Sher Bahadar Khan; Hongli Suo

doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c01259

Synthesis, Characterization, and Multifunctional Applications of Cu-Fe and Ni-Fe Nanomaterials

ACS Omega. 2020 Jun 23;5(26):15992-16002. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c01259. eCollection 2020 Jul 7.

Authors

Kausar Shaheen^{1

2}, Zarbad Shah³, Ambreen Asad³, Tofail Arshad³, Sher Bahadar Khan^{4

5}, Hongli Suo¹

Affiliations

¹ The Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
² Department of Physics, Jinnah College for Women, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
³ Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, Charsadda 24420, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
⁴ Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, P.O. Box 80203, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P. O. Box 80203, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Cu-Fe and Ni-Fe nanomaterials (NMs) were successfully obtained via a coprecipitation route. Phase analysis and the micro- and physiochemical structure studies for the as-synthesized NMs were carried out with advanced techniques such as TEM, SEM, XRD, XPS, BET, DRS, TGA, and FTIR. Particles with size ranging from 25 to 70 nm were displayed by all the characterization techniques. A surface area of ∼4.48 and 36.52m²/g and band gap energies of ∼1.79 and 1.48 eV were calculated for Cu-Fe and Ni-Fe NMs, respectively. Saturation magnetization (Ms) ∼77.95 emu/g (for Cu-Fe) and 27.70 emu/g (for Ni-Fe) revealed superparamagnetism for both the NMs. The presence of ethanol and methanol as sacrificial agents contributed effectively toward electrocatalytic H-evolution as compared to pure NMs. Furthermore, under solar light irradiations, Cu-Fe and Ni-Fe NMs displayed 85 and 91% degradation during a time interval of 50 and 110 min, respectively, for toxic industrial methylene blue (MB) dye. Different operational variables such as the catalyst amount, pH values, various scavengers, reusability, and stability were thoroughly investigated. Moreover, in situ analysis was carried out in order to determine the mechanism for degradation reactions. A detailed study about various applications categorized the synthesized NMs as efficient candidates for toxic industrial waste cleanup and energy production at an industrial level.