DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v28i1.501

Keywords: NiS–SrO Nanoparticles, Tartrazine yellow dye, Adsorption study, photolytic synthesis, isotherm model, kinetic study, structural characterization

Abstract

Industrial food dyes are one of the chemical pollutants in the aquatic environment. They are released with food wastewater, altering the physical and chemical properties of the water, directly impacting living organisms and humans. In this study, a novel photochemical technique utilizing ultraviolet light was employed to produce binary NiS–SrO nanoparticles. While TEM investigation showed the development of nearly spherical nanoparticles with an average diameter of 22 nm, structural characterization using XRD confirmed the composite's crystalline structure, with crystallite sizes of 18.7 nm. FE-SEM analyses revealed a very porous surface shape, which is beneficial for adsorption processes. In demonstrating that nickel, sulfur, strontium, and oxygen were evenly distributed throughout the nanocomposite, elemental mapping and EDX investigations further confirmed the successful creation of the intended binary material. Additionally, the ability of the produced NiS-SrO nanoparticles was their ability to adsorb impurities of tartrazine dye in aqueous solutions. The adsorption tests demonstrated that the binary nanomaterial outperformed its single-component counterparts in terms of dye removal effectiveness. The process is endothermic and spontaneous, as indicated by the positive ΔH° and negative ΔG° readings, and the adsorption capacity increased with temperature. The evaluation indicates that the adsorption follows a pseudo‑second‑order kinetic model, pointing to physisorption as the mechanism for capturing dye molecules. Putting the results together, the data portray NiS–SrO nanoparticles as a choice for extracting colorants from wastewater, thanks to their distinctive adsorption capacity and advantageous structural traits.