DOI: https://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.20529

Effect of Nickel Incorporation on Nitrogen-Doped Titania/Zirconia Nanocomposites for Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol

1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia

2Department of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Hanseo University, Seosan, Chungnam 356-706, South Korea

Received: 7 Nov 2025; Revised: 5 Feb 2026; Accepted: 5 Feb 2026; Available online: 7 Feb 2026; Published: 30 Aug 2026.
Editor(s): Istadi Istadi
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Abstract

The rapid expansion of industrial activities has resulted in the discharge of persistent organic pollutants, such as phenol, into aquatic environments. Nowadays, developing visible-light-responsive photocatalysts for the efficient degradation of such pollutants remains a major environmental challenge. In this study, nickel–nitrogen co-doped titania immobilized on zirconia (Ni,N–TiO₂/ZrO₂) nanocomposites with varying nickel loadings were synthesized and evaluated for phenol photodegradation under visible-light irradiation. Nickel incorporation significantly modified the optical and photocatalytic properties of the materials. The 5% Ni,N–TiO₂/ZrO₂ catalyst exhibited the lowest band gap energy (2.69 eV) compared with N–TiO₂/ZrO₂ (3.03 eV), leading to improved visible-light absorption and enhanced charge transfer. Under the experimental conditions (initial phenol concentration = 10 mg.L⁻¹, catalyst dosage = 100 mg, irradiation time = 120 min), it achieved a phenol removal efficiency of 85.36% with an apparent rate constant of 0.0229 min⁻¹, outperforming N–TiO₂/ZrO₂ (40.72%, 0.0042 min⁻¹). These results confirm that a 5 wt% nickel loading provides the most effective modification, demonstrating a strong synergistic interaction between nickel and nitrogen that enhances photocatalytic activity. The developed Ni,N–TiO₂/ZrO₂ catalyst, therefore, holds significant promise for future applications in water purification and environmental remediation. Copyright © 2026 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Keywords: Advanced oxidation process; environmental remediation; photocatalysis; titania; zirconia
Funding: Universitas Gadjah Mada under contract 3938/UN1/FMIPA.1.3/KP/PT.01.03/2025

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