Mesoporous NiO/Ni₂O₃ nanoflowers for favorable visible light photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol

The present study highlights the treatment of industrial effluent, which is one of the most life-threatening factors. Herein, for the first time, two types of NiO (green and black) photocatalysts were prepared by facile chemical precipitation and thermal decomposition methods separately. The synthesized NiO materials were demonstrated with various instrumental techniques for finding their characteristics. The X-ray diffraction studies (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed the presence of Ni₂O₃ in black NiO material. The transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images engrained the nanospherical shaped green NiO and nanoflower shaped black NiO/Ni₂O₃ materials. Further, the band gap of black NiO nanoflower was 2.9 eV compared to green NiO having 3.8 eV obtained from UV–vis spectroscopy. Meanwhile, both NiO catalysts were employed for visible light degradation, which yields a 60.3% efficiency of black NiO comparable to a 4.3% efficiency of green NiO within 180 min of exposure. The higher degrading efficiency of black NiO was due to the presence of Ni₂O₃ and the development of pores, which was evident from the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method. Type IV hysteresis was observed in black NiO nanoflowers with high surface area and pore size measurements. This black NiO/Ni₂O₃ synthesized from the thermal decomposition method has promoted better photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol upon exposure to visible light and is applicable for other industrial pollutants.