Fabrication of novel nitrogen-doped δ-Al2O3 NPs: Characterization and performance ‎evaluation for electrocatalytic degradation of organic dyes

Abstract

This work constructs novel N-doped δ-Al2O3 nanoparticles (NAO) based gelatin support by sol-gel/auto-combustion ‎method. XRD analysis proved NAO NPs' tetragonal structure, which proved the delta-phase (δ) formation of Al2O3 NPs. ‎SEM micrographs of NAO NPs showed an irregular shape with a rocky surface, and a grain size ranging from 34.9 to ‎‎66.6 nm. The direct energy of the band gap value of fabricated NAO-3 NPs was approximately 5.305 eV, indicating a ‎promising response to electrocatalytic activity. NAO-3 NPs demonstrated effective electrocatalytic degradation of both ‎Carmine and Eosin Yellow dyes. Fabricated NAO-3 NPs catalyst achieved degradation efficiency ⁓96.3% (0.28112 min-1) ‎and 97.5% (0.19828 min-1) within 10 min and 12 min, respectively, in case of Carmine and Eosin Yellow dyes; ‎respectively, while mixed dyes are degraded ⁓ 98.60 %. Trapping analysis exposed that the primary species which initiate ‎electrocatalytic degradation of Carmine dye is 〖O_2〗^(•-) radical. After five cycles of electrocatalytic degradation, ‎NAO-3 NPs' electrocatalytic performance decreases slightly to 90.5%, demonstrating NAO NPs possess an excellent ‎stability and recyclability throughout the electrocatalytic reaction process for degradation of organic pollutants. ‎