Green and solid-state approaches: dyes mitigation efficiency of two trimetallic alloys in aquatic environment

The escalating ecological pollution, particularly from organic colorants, is having a devastating impact on aquatic ecosystems, with dire consequences for marine life such as discharge of polluted water from various industries may reduce the biodiversity in water. Two novel trimetallic alloys expressed as CoNiCuOx (TMAs) and ZnNiCuOx (TMAg) were successfully synthesized via non-solvated and green methods respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis was employed to investigate the surface morphology and pore size distribution within the synthesized matrix. Vibrational analysis was conducted to confirm the presence of metal oxide vibrational bands and adsorbed water molecules on the synthesized materials. Additionally, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was carried out to determine the structural characteristics and crystallinity of both TMAs and TMAg. The TMAs material demonstrated exceptional efficiency in removing various dyes such as 71% for Ponceau S at 45 °C, 81% for Amaranth at a dose of 8 mg/L, 67% for Trypan Blue after 25 min of UV exposure, 93% for Congo Red at 45 °C, 100% for Evan Blue at a dose of 8 mg/L. In contrast, the green-synthesized material showed notable removal efficiencies such as 45% for Congo Red after 25 min of UV exposure, 72% for Brilliant Green at a dose of 8 mg/L, 25% for Orange-1 at a material dose of 8 mg/L, 20% for Methyl Yellow after 25 min of UV exposure. The mitigation process was investigated under various experimental conditions, including the impact of material dosage, UV light exposure, contact time between the dye and material, and temperature effects on the reaction medium. The results showed that the non-solvated method outperformed the green approach in terms of efficiency for removing organic dyes.