Pd–Ni nanoparticles supported on activated carbon (Pd–Ni/AC) were prepared using a phase transfer method. The purpose of synthesizing ternary composites was to enhance the surface area of synthesized Pd–Ni nanoparticles, as they have a low surface area. The resulting composite was characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) for investigating its surface morphology, particle size, percentage of crystallinity and elemental composition, respectively. The XRD data and EDX analysis revealed the presence of Pd–Ni alloys impregnated on the AC. Pd–Ni/AC was used as an adsorbent for the removal of the azo dye basic blue 3 from an aqueous medium. Kinetic and isotherm models were used to calculate the adsorption parameters. The most suitable kinetic model amongst the applied models was the pseudo-second-order model, confirming the chemisorption characteristics of the process, and the most suitable isotherm model was the Langmuir model, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 333 mg/g at 333 K. Different experimental parameters, such as the adsorbent dosage, pH, temperature and contact time, were optimized. The optimum parameters reached were: a pH of 12, temperature of 333 K, adsorbent dosage of 0.01 g and optimum contact time of 30 min. Moreover, the thermodynamics parameters of adsorption, such as Gibbs free energy (ΔG°), enthalpy (ΔH°) and entropy (ΔS°), showed the adsorption processes being exothermic with values of ΔH° equal to −6.206 kJ/mol and being spontaneous with ΔG° values of −13.297, −13.780 and −14.264 kJ/mol, respectively at 293, 313 and 333 K. An increase in entropy change (ΔS°) with a value of 0.0242 kJ/mol K, indicated the enhanced disorder at a solid–solution interface during the adsorption process. Recycling the adsorbent for six cycles with sodium hydroxide and ethanol showed a decline in the efficiency of the selected azo dye basic blue 3 up to 79%. The prepared ternary composite was found effective in the removal of the selected dye. The removal of other pollutants represents one of the possible future uses of the prepared adsorbent, but further experiments are required.

In this study palladium-nickel (Pd-Ni) nanoparticles supported on carbon and cerium oxide (Pd-Ni/AC-CeO₂) were synthesized by a transfer phase method and characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The XRD and SEM data concluded the presence of alloy formation between Pd and Ni. The synthesized particles were used as an adsorbent for removal of azo dye acid orange-8 (AO-8) from water and were found to be effective in removal (over 90% removal efficiency) of the selected dye. Different kinetics and equilibrium models were applied to calculate the adsorption parameters. The most suitable model that best fitted the equilibrium data was the Langmuir model and maximum adsorption capacities were 666.6, 714 and 769 mg/g at 293, 313 and 333 K, respectively, with R² values closed to 1 while in the case of the kinetics data the best fit was obtained with a pseudo-second order kinetics model with a high R² value. Furthermore, the adsorption thermodynamics parameters such as free energy, enthalpy, and entropy were calculated and the adsorption process was to found be exothermic with a value of ΔH° (−7.593 kJ mol⁻¹), spontaneous as ΔG° values were negative (−18.7327, −19.4870, and −20.584 kJ/mol at 293, 313 and 333 K, respectively). A positive entropy change ΔS° with a value of 0.0384 kJ /mol K indicates increased disorder at the solid–solution interface during the adsorption process. An attempt was made to recycle the Pd-Ni/AC-CeO₂ with suitable solvents and the recycled adsorbent was reused for 6 cycles with AO-8 removal efficiency up to 80%. Based on findings of the study, the synthesized adsorbent could effectively be used for the removal of other pollutants from wastewater, however, further studies are needed to prove the mechanisms.