Superior performance of nickel doped vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles and their photocatalytic, antibacterial and antioxidant activities

Abstract

The present work reports the synthesis of pure V₂O₅ and Ni-doped V₂O₅ nanoparticles via co-precipitation method, exploring diverse concentrations of Ni²⁺ in V₂O₅ system. The valent reduction of V, Ni, Oxygen stabilization and formation of V₂O₅ and Ni-doped V₂O₅ nanoparticles were evident by characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Photoluminescence and UV–Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy. Bandgap variations and Crystallite size of pure V₂O₅ and Ni-doped V₂O₅ nanoparticles confirmed the reduction of Ni⁺ and V⁺ their difference was found to be ∆Eg = 1.52 eV and 24–43 nm, respectively. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis examined oxidation states and binding energies which is vital for understanding structural and compositional aspects. Evaluation of bacterial endurance against gram-positive (S. aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (E.coli), coupled with antioxidant activity measurements via 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, indicate the successful utilization of the synthesized nanoparticles for biomedical and wastewater treatment applications. In contagious diseases, Ni/V₂O₅ nanoparticles showed superior activity against both S. aureus and E. coli. Photocatalytic activity against MB (98%) and Rh–B (88%) dyes under visible light irradiation was also evaluated with Ni/V₂O₅ nanoparticles which is exhibiting enhanced performance. Pseudo-first-order kinetics revealed accelerated dye degradation upon Ni ion incorporation, suggesting improved electron–hole pair activity and ROS formation. The AOP facilitated by the photocatalyst holds promise for wastewater treatment, with advantages such as absence of secondary product formation and presence of activated electrons. The in-depth investigation about the properties of Ni²⁺ into V₂O₅ lead us towards the cost effective and multifunctional applications of these nanoparticles at industrial level.