Nickel engineered in-situ graphitization of carbon derived from bagasse: A robust and highly efficient catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction and water remediation

Abstract

Upcycling bagasse into functional materials such as electrocatalysts and adsorbents is crucial for renewable energy and water remediation. The present work accounts for preparing in-situ nickel-engineered graphitic-layered carbon (Ni@GLC) using different loading of Ni2+ on bagasse waste by carbonization technique. Various spectro-analytical and physiochemical techniques are used to characterize and elucidate the plausible mechanism of in situ carbonization and grafting of Ni on GLC. Initially, the Ni@GLC was employed as an electrocatalyst for OER reaction under ambient conditions. Results revealed that effective nickel loading Ni@GLC-2 showed enhanced electrocatalytic activity with a Tafel slope of 86 mV dec−1 and ɳ of 284 mV (vs. RHE) to drive j10 mA cm−2 in an alkaline medium (pH 13). The material showed 12 h chronoamperometry (CA) stability. Further, in the case of water remediation, Ni@GLC-2 was employed as an adsorbent through the adsorption technique using Methyl orange (MO), Amido black (AB), and regular hair dye (HD) as emerging pollutants. Reaction variables such as the effect of pH and dosage study were investigated and discussed. Results revealed that time-dependent kinetic data was better fitted for the pseudo-second-order model, and isotherm studies with the Langmuir model attained qm capacity of 2232 and 617 mg g−1 for MO and AB, respectively. Interestingly, 96 % removal of Garnier color naturals HD was achieved. Based on the results obtained from ζ-potential and FT-IR analysis support the interaction between the dye and Ni@GLC-2. We believe this work opens new outcomes for designing and synthesizing efficient electrocatalysts and sorbents for energy development and environmental conservation. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd