Facile synthesis of nickel oxide nanoparticles for the degradation of Methylene blue and Rhodamine B dye: a comparative study

This work sought to draw a comparison between the photocatalytic proficiency of NiO nanoparticles (NPs) for the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (Rh B) dye. The NiO NPS were synthesized by a facile straightforward chemical route by utilizing NiCl2 and NaHCO3 as a precursor. The morphological characteristics of the synthesized NiO NPs have been characterized by using SEM. In addition XRD, FTIR and EDX analysis were also carried out to investigate the crystalline size, functional group and elemental composition of the NPs. The NiO NPs were subsequently used for the photocatalytic degradation of the MB and Rh B in the presence of the visible light irradiation. For evaluation of photocatalytic proficiency, the influence of various key parameters viz. pH of the dye solution, initial dye concentration, Irradiation time and amount of the catalyst were investigated. The extent of photocatalytic degradation of MB and Rh B was found to be 98.7 and 80.33% at pH 2 and 10 respectively. The kinetic investigation of photocatalytic degradation followed a pseudo-first-order rate kinetics for MB and Rh B dye with rate constant 4.6x10(-1) and 3.6x10(-2). Additionally, the synthesized NiO NPs was used for the antimicrobial activity against the few gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. Highlights The NiO nanocrystalline semiconducting photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by a facile straightforward chemical route by utilizing NiCl2 and NaHCO3 as a precursor. Novel simple chemical route synthesis at room temperature. First time report a combine study of photocatalytic degradation of Methylene blue and Rhodamine B dye by using NiO as a photocatalyst. Also, Antimicrobial study was examined which clearly indicate the biocompatibility of synthesized NiO nanoparticles. [GRAPHICS] .