ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Synthesis of Fe–Ni–Ce trimetallic catalyst nanoparticles via impregnation and co-precipitation and their application to dye degradation

Ghazaleh Allaedini, Siti M. Tasirin, and Payam Aminayi

Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

E-mail: jiny_ghazaleh@yahoo.com

Abstract: In this study, trimetallic catalysts were prepared via the co-precipitation and impregnation methods. In order to investigate the effect of impregnation on the catalytic activity and crystallite size, a trimetallic catalyst, Fe-Ni-Ce, was prepared through the co-precipitation method in one set of experiments, and cerium was impregnated with the Ni-Fe mixture in the final stage of the preparation in another set. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was employed to confirm the formation of trimetallic catalysts and the success of the impregnation method. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller nitrogen adsorption isotherm exhibits a high specific surface area (approximately 39 m² g⁻¹) for the nanoparticles obtained by the impregnation method. The crystallography and morphology of the trimetallic catalysts thus prepared were characterised by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. UV-VIS spectroscopy and methylene blue dye degradation tests were also performed to investigate the catalytic activity of the synthesised catalysts. The crystalline size was found to be smaller for the catalysts prepared by the impregnation method. In addition, the samples synthesised using the cerium impregnation method showed superior activity in the methylene blue dye degradation test. The effect of the catalyst dosage on dye degradation, as well as the effect of the initial dye concentration on the catalyst activity, was also studied for both methods.

Keywords: Fe-Ni-Ce nanoparticles – trimetallic – catalyst – photodegradation – methylene blue

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0190

Chemical Papers 70 (2) 231–242 (2016)