SYNTHESIS AND CATALYTIC EFFICIENCY OF GREEN-SOURCED METAL OXIDE NANOPARTICLES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION IN AQUEOUS SYSTEMS
Keywords:
Green synthesis, Zinc oxide nanoparticles, Iron oxide nanoparticles, Environmental remediation, Methylene blue degradation, Plant extracts, Nano- catalysisAbstract
Background: Synthetic dyes have been causing serious ecological pollution in industrial wastewater. Conventional remediation methods are inefficient and unsustainable, which has led to increasing interest in green nanotechnology for environmentally friendly remediation.
Aim: The present study focused on the green synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles, using extracts obtained from Azadirachta indica and Moringa oleifera leaves, interpretation of their physicochemical properties, and assessment of their catalytic potential for metachromatic form based dye methylene blue decolorization performance from aqueous systems.
Method: Green-synthesized nanoparticles were synthesized using aqueous leaf extracts as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Characterization were carried out by fouriertransform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface studies. The catalytic activity of the catalyst was evaluated by the photodegradation of methylene blue under UV light irradiation, and recyclability was performed for four rounds.
Results: FTIR analysis showed the existence of phytochemicals responsible for the synthesis of nanoparticles. XRD data demonstrated rhombohedral and wurtzite crystallite structures for Fe₂O₃ and ZnO respectively. SEM/TEM of particles displayed homogeneous spherical shape in nanometer range. Evidently green- synthesized particles were found to possess larger surface area than the commercial ones as evident from the BET analysis. Catalytic experiments showed that the green-prepared ZnO can degrade 96.5% of the dye within 60 minute, which was obviously much better compared with commercial ZnO. Both types of nanoparticles showed very good re-usability with slight loss of the activity.
Conclusion: The study reports on the suitability to commercial counterparts, the corresponding green synthesized ZnO and Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles have excellent physicochemical and catalytic characteristics. The present environmentally-friendly synthetic method provides a potential alternative for practical applications of sustainable wastewater treatment.
