Transition metal doped CeO2 for photocatalytic removal of 2-chlorophenol in the exposure of indoor white light and antifungal activity

M Tariq Qamar; Shahid Iqbal; M Aslam; Ahmad Alhujaily; Anum Bilal; Komal Rizwan; Hafiz Muhammad Umer Farooq; Tahir Ali Sheikh; Ali Bahadur; Nasser S Awwad; Hala A Ibrahium; Rasmiah S Almufarij; Eslam B Elkaeed

doi:10.3389/fchem.2023.1126171

Transition metal doped CeO₂ for photocatalytic removal of 2-chlorophenol in the exposure of indoor white light and antifungal activity

Front Chem. 2023 Apr 19:11:1126171. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1126171. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Pakistan.
² Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences (SNS), National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.
³ Centre of Excellence in Environmental Studies (CEES), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Biology Department, College of Science, Taibah University, Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of Sahiwal, Sahiwal, Pakistan.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁸ Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Technology, Wenzhou-Kean University, Wenzhou, China.
⁹ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Biology Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Department of Semi Pilot Plant, Nuclear Materials Authority, El Maadi, Egypt.
¹² Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹³ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Besides natural sunlight and expensive artificial lights, economical indoor white light can play a significant role in activating a catalyst for photocatalytic removal of organic toxins from contaminated water. In the current effort, CeO₂ has been modified with Ni, Cu, and Fe through doping methodology to study the removal of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) in the illumination of 70 W indoor LED white light. The absence of additional diffractions due to the dopants and few changes such as reduction in peaks' height, minor peak shift at 2θ (28.525°) and peaks' broadening in XRD patterns of modified CeO₂ verifies the successful doping of CeO₂. The solid-state absorption spectra revealed higher absorbance of Cu-doped CeO₂ whereas a lower absorption response was observed for Ni-doped CeO₂. An interesting observation regarding the lowering of indirect bandgap energy of Fe-doped CeO₂ (∼2.7 eV) and an increase in Ni-doped CeO₂ (∼3.0 eV) in comparison to pristine CeO₂ (∼2.9 eV) was noticed. The process of e ^-- h ⁺ recombination in the synthesized photocatalysts was also investigated through photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic studies revealed the greater photocatalytic activity of Fe-doped CeO₂ with a higher rate (∼3.9 × 10^-3 min^-1) among all other materials. Moreover, kinetic studies also revealed the validation of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model (R² = 0.9839) while removing 2-CP in the exposure of indoor light with a Fe-doped CeO₂ photocatalyst. The XPS analysis revealed the existence of Fe³⁺, Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ core levels in doped CeO₂. Using the agar well-diffusion method, the antifungal activity was assessed against the fungus M. fructicola and F. oxysporum. Compared to CeO₂, Ni-doped CeO₂, and Cu-doped CeO₂ nanoparticles, the Fe-doped CeO₂ nanoparticles have outstanding antifungal properties.

Keywords: 2-chlorophenol; antifungal activity; band gap energy; modified CeO2; nanocompoiste; photocatalytic removal.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for supporting this work through research groups program under grant number RGP.2/334/44. The authors thank the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan and Department of Chemistry, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) Lahore Pakistan for supporting this work by grant No. 21-1865/SRGP/R&D/HEC/2018. This research was funded by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2023R316), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The authors extend their appreciation to the Research Center at AlMaarefa University for funding this work.