Enhanced catalytic activity of nickel-gold nanoprisms in hydrodesulfurization and reduction of 4-nitrophenol and organic dyes

Abstract

Nickel nano-prism, containing a very low amount of gold (0.16 wt%) (NiAu NPr), was prepared and its physicochemical properties and surface composition were characterized. The catalytic function of this nano-prism was demonstrated in the hydrodesulfurization of thiophene derivatives and the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and organic dyes. Using this catalyst with 0.53 ppm of Au, quantitative reduction and conversion of 4-NP, methyl orange (MO), methyl red (MR), Rhodamine B (RhB), and methylene blue (MB) were achieved immediately. Furthermore, with the NiAu NPr catalyst containing 16 ppm of Au, 3-methylthiophene, dibenzothiophene (DBT), and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT), the three major sulfur-containing organic pollutants from fuel liquids, were transformed and removed efficiently. Our investigation showed that the presence of Au at the ppm level in the catalyst distinctly improves the catalytic performance and that the NiAu nano-prism has higher activity than the Ni nano-prism and homogeneous Au. Characterization of the recycled catalyst showed that its prism-like structure remained mostly stable during the reactions.The authors are grateful to the IASBS Research Council and Alicante University for their support of this work. This work is based upon research funded by Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) under the project no. 4022486. The authors would like to thank the (INSF-Grant number of 4022486), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RED2018-102387-T, PID2019-107268 GB-100), and Generalitat Valenciana (IDIFEDER/2021/013) for support of this work