One-step synthesis of bentonite-supported nanoscale Fe/Ni bimetals for rapid degradation of methyl orange in water

Although nanoscale zero-valent iron (nano-Fe-0) is used to remediate pollutants, this reagent still presents stability and reactivity issues. To solve those issues, we synthesized bentonite-supported nanoscale iron bimetals B-Fe/Ni and B-Fe/Pd. We then used those reagents to degrade the methyl orange dye in water. Results of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that the presence of bentonite and bimetal decreased nanoscale iron aggregation and increased methyl orange removal efficiency. More than 90 % of methyl orange at 100 mg/L was degraded by B-Fe/Ni (0.15 g/L) in 10 min. By comparison, only 62 % of methyl orange was degraded by B-Fe, and 35 % of methyl orange was degraded by nano-Fe-0. The degradation rate decreased with the increase of the initial concentration of methyl orange. Lower pH allowed fast removal of methyl orange. Overall our findings show that a nanoscale Fe/Ni on bentonite-supported material is more efficient than nano-Fe-0. One-step synthesis is more convenient than current two-step-synthesized nanoscale bimetals. Bentonite-supported nanoscale bimetals could therefore be an economic competitive candidate for contaminated water remediation.