Highly Efficient Heterojunction Nanocatalyst Fe 0 -Ag 0 @BN in the Degradation of Alizarin Yellow (AY): A greener and sustainable approach

The textile, paper, and chemical industries, including dye or pigment create significant quantities of wastewater streams that are typically released into surface water resources, thus contaminating aquatic environment. Among them, several dye chemical compounds are highly hazardous, even though in some concentration, resulting in endangering the flora and fauna of the aquatic environment. This study seeks to remove a dye pollutant, Alizarin Yellow (AY), from polluted aqueous solutions using novel bimetallic Fe & Ag nanoparticles supported with bentonite (Fe ⁰ -Ag ⁰ @BN). Various analytical techniques extensively characterize nanocomposite materials and show a distinct distribution of Ag and Fe nanoparticles onto the nanocomposite. The nanocomposite is highly efficient in removing the Alizarin Yellow in the Fenton-like process. The nanocatalyst in batch reactor eliminated AY (2 mg/L) in 30 and 60 min, using UV-A and LED irradiation, respectively. Under the UV-A irradiation, the process mineralizes a high percentage of AY (98%). Furthermore, the presence of silver nanoparticles synergized the degradation process, and an enhancement of Fe(II) in the bulk solution positively impacted the elimination of AY in the light-illuminated Fenton-like process, as well. The nanocatalyst (nanoscale Zero-valent Iron: nZVI) exhibited a reasonable stability and reusability in the batch processes, and excellent selectivity in AY elimination using different natural water samples. The bimetallic Fe ⁰ -Ag ⁰ @BN nanocatalyst composite showed the potential for the removal and mineralization of AY in aquatic environment.