Titania-carbon amalgamated nickel and copper layered double hydroxide for dye removal and catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol

An economical and environmentally beneficial route for removing acid red 1 dye (A.R.) is titania‑carbon amalgamated nickel and copper layered double hydroxide, which is an efficient, and sustainable adsorbent. The utilized composite adsorbent consisting of layered double hydroxide (LDH) films with Ni and Cu, as well as TiO2-C have been fabricated to remove acid red 1 and develop a sustainable environmentally friendly way to convert p-nitrophenol into p-aminophenol. Miscellaneous characterization approaches were employed to examine the morphology, structure, and surface area of the synthesized composites. This study used a batch adsorption approach, which involved adjusting several factors, including adsorbent dosage, pH, and effect of co-existing inorganic materials. XRD, and FTIR characterization before and after adsorption showed robustness of the structure of the nanocomposite. The XPS analysis of TiO2-C@NiLDH and TiO2-C@CuLDH following the adsorption of A.R. revealed that the dye's shielding effect on the metal ions was the primary factor influencing the adsorption, rather than the degradation of the dyes. Moreover, the utilized nanocomposites exhibited an efficient catalytic activity for the conversion of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol using a hydrogen donor. Our findings exhibit that the LDH/TiO2-C hybrid with Ni demonstrates great stability even after being reused six times, and the suggested reaction mechanism has been documented.