Heterogeneous catalytic reduction of 4-nitroaniline by RGO-Ni nanocomposite for water resource management

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO)–Nickel nanocomposite was synthesized by the hydrothermal process and this work shows the catalytic efficiency of nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs) stabilized by reduced graphene oxide (RGO) for reduction of toxic organic molecules into nontoxic moiety. Characterization by X-ray diffraction shows the ordered structure of Ni NPs on RGO surface and transmission electron microscopy indicates that the use of RGO as a supporting material reduces the aggregation of metallic Ni NPs resulting an enhancement in the reactivity. Approximately 4–5 nm Ni NPs are finely distributed on RGO surface. The UV–Visible study confirms the formation of nickel NPs and the catalytic experiments show that the degradation capability of organic dye is increased than that in absence of any catalyst, RGO and Ni NPs separately. A catalytic mechanism for the removal of 4-nitroaniline (4-NA) by RGO–Ni nanocomposite was proposed which involves catalytic reduction. This nanocomposite shows ferromagnetism behavior at room temperature.