Synthesis of azo metal complexes for efficient photocatalytic diclofenac degradation: experimental studies and statistical optimization.
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Madinah Madinah 42351 Saudi Arabia.
- 2Department of Chemistry, University of Gujrat Gujrat-50700 Pakistan [email protected].
- 3School of Chemistry, University of the Punjab Quaid-e-Azam Campus Lahore 54590 Pakistan [email protected].
- 4Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen Technologies and Carbon Management, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran 31261 Saudi Arabia.
- 5Department of Chemistry, Govt. College Women University Sialkot-51300 Pakistan.
- 6Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge Cambridge UK.
- 7Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University P.O. Box 2457 Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
In the present study, two azo ligands (L1 and L2) were synthesized and subsequently reacted with Ni(ii), Cu(ii), Co(ii), and Zn(ii) metal ions to afford a series of eight corresponding azo metal complexes (C1-C8). The successful synthesis and structural features of the azo ligands and their metal complexes were confirmed through comprehensive spectroscopic characterization using UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized metal complexes C1-C8 was investigated using diclofenac sodium (DCF) as a target pollutant. Among different compositions, C8 showed exceptional performance attributed to the synergy of extended π-conjugation and the favorable redox cycle of Cu²⁺/Cu¹⁺. The photocatalytic process was optimized through response surface methodology (RSM) employing central composite design (CCD). Herein, the influence of different reaction parameters on DCF degradation and their interactive effects was examined. Maximum degradation efficiency of 90.2% was recorded for C8 at a catalyst loading of 20 mg using 11 mg L⁻¹ of DCF under mildly acidic conditions (pH = 5.1) for an irradiation time of 79 min. Furthermore, C8 displayed reasonable reusability up to four repeated runs with only a slight drop of 1.8% in photocatalytic activity, suggesting the viable photocatalytic potential of such materials in wastewater treatment.
Related
- Green synthesis of TiO₂ nanoparticles using allium sativum skin extract for acridine orange photocatalytic degradation: optimization via R
- Renoprotective effects of dapagliflozin and montelukast for diclofenac induced acute kidney injury through network pharmacology and experimental validation
- Immobilization of nanostructured NiFe2O4 on mesoporous TiO2 as an efficient Z-scheme photocatalyst for high-performance photocatalytic degradation
- Green synthesis of graphene oxide–TiO2/Fe2O3/ZnO nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of petroleum refinery wastewater
- Hydrothermally engineered NiO–ZnO–In2O3 ternary heterojunction for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and rhodamine B
BibTeX
@article{said2026synthesis,
title = {{Synthesis of azo metal complexes for efficient photocatalytic diclofenac degradation: experimental studies and statistical optimization.}},
author = {Musa A Said and Ehsan Ullah Mughal and Nafeesa Naeem and Muhammad Imran and Ayesha Javaid and Amina Sadiq and Ishtiaq Ahmed and Amber Walayat and Mohamed Hefnawy},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra08272f},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948051},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Synthesis of azo metal complexes for efficient photocatalytic diclofenac degradation: experimental studies and statistical optimization.
AU - Musa A Said
AU - Ehsan Ullah Mughal
AU - Nafeesa Naeem
AU - Muhammad Imran
AU - Ayesha Javaid
AU - Amina Sadiq
AU - Ishtiaq Ahmed
AU - Amber Walayat
AU - Mohamed Hefnawy
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra08272f
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948051
AB - In the present study, two azo ligands (L1 and L2) were synthesized and subsequently reacted with Ni(ii), Cu(ii), Co(ii), and Zn(ii) metal ions to afford a series of eight corresponding azo metal complexes (C1-C8). The successful synthesis and structural features of the azo ligands and their metal complexes were confirmed through comprehensive spectroscopic characterization using UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized metal complexes C1-C8 was investigated using diclofenac sodium (DCF) as a target pollutant. Among different compositions, C8 showed exceptional performance attributed to the synergy of extended π-conjugation and the favorable redox cycle of Cu²⁺/Cu¹⁺. The photocatalytic process was optimized through response surface methodology (RSM) employing central composite design (CCD). Herein, the influence of different reaction parameters on DCF degradation and their interactive effects was examined. Maximum degradation efficiency of 90.2% was recorded for C8 at a catalyst loading of 20 mg using 11 mg L⁻¹ of DCF under mildly acidic conditions (pH = 5.1) for an irradiation time of 79 min. Furthermore, C8 displayed reasonable reusability up to four repeated runs with only a slight drop of 1.8% in photocatalytic activity, suggesting the viable photocatalytic potential of such materials in wastewater treatment.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -