Chitosan hydrogel wrapped bimetallic nanoparticles based efficient catalysts for the catalytic removal of organic pollutants and hydrogen production

A novel catalytic system based on bimetallic nanoparticles entrapped chitosan hydrogel container (Cu-Ag/CH, Cu-Co/CH, Cu-Ni/CH) was prepared. The developed catalytic system was applied for production of H-2 from water and methanol and reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), 3-nitrophenol, 2-nitrophenol, 2,6-dinitrophenol, methylene blue, congo red (CR), methyl orange, acridine orange, and potassium ferricynide (K-3[Fe(CN)(6)]). The developed catalytic system has shown tremendous performance and exhibited high efficiency as a catalyst for water treatment and H-2 generation. Among all the nanocatalysts, Cu-Co/CH was more efficient in catalytic H-2 generation while Cu-Ni/CH was more efficient in catalytic reduction of toxic contaminants. Further, various parameters like amount of NaBH4, catalyst quantity, pollutant concentration, and temperature were optimized to enhance the effectiveness of catalytic system for fast production of H-2 and reduction of toxins. Moreover, the recyclability of the catalyst was investigated, where slight decrease in reduction time was noted.