Facile synthesis of Fe2.96Cr0.03Ni0.01O4@Ag core-shell nanoparticles and its efficient applications in green hydrogen generation and in removing hazardous dyes

Abstract

A unique class of materials with nanostructures known as core-shell nanoparticles (CS-NPs) has drawn more attention recently because of its intriguing characteristics and wide range of uses in drug delivery, biology, materials chemistry, photocatalysis, catalysis, sensors, and other electronic device applications. One advantage of the approach was that it was easy to use, safe, affordable, and controlled. The CS-NPs of Fe_2.96Cr_0.03Ni_0.01O₄@Ag were successfully synthesized via electrolytic cathodic deposition of FeCrNi alloy thin film on a steel substrate and then annealed at 800 °C for two hours, resulting in a FeCrNiO powder that is converted easily to FeCrNiO@Ag CS-NPs using aqueous Ag-NPs. The XRD patterns of both FeCrNiO and FeCrNiO@Ag CS-NPs show the formation of a mixture of iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) and magnetite oxide (Fe_2.96Cr_0.03Ni_0.01O₄) with an average grain size of 38.36 nm and 30.18 nm, respectively. The synthesized FeCrNiO@Ag CS-NPs exhibit excellent applications in catalytic efficiency during the production of hydrogen from NaBH₄ hydrolysis in addition to the reduction of the nitro group of 4NP to 4AP. In another successful application, the data show that using FeCrNiO@Ag, the dyes' total reduction occurred at 0.42 min for Remazol red (RR), 1.16 min for Methyl orange (MO), 0.83 min for Congo red (CR), and 1 min for Methylene blue (MB). The kinetics investigation was conducted and proved that the reduction reactions of the dyes followed a pseudo-first-order model. This data shows that our catalytic system performs well when compared to the other catalytic systems for dye reduction, and FeCrNiO@Ag CS-NPs is a favorable material for organic dye reduction. Therefore, the CS-NPs exhibit promise efficiency towards important applications in industrial catalysis and dye reduction, as evidenced by their stability and recyclability.