PHOTOCATALYTIC DYE DEGREDATION USING ECOFRIENDLY SYNTHESIZED SILVER NANOPARTICLES

Abstract

Indiscriminate discharge of industrial wastewater without proper treatment pose a great threat to the environment and living things. Although various methods are presently being used to mitigate these effects however, most of these methods have some disadvantages such as high cost, low efficiency and risk of reintroducing more pollutants to the environment. Presently, nanoparticles, due to their large surface to volume ratio and excellent adsorbent properties, have been applied in wastewater treatment. Literature studies has also revealed the efficacy of nanoparticles for individual dye degradation. In this study, ecofriendly silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was successfully synthesized using aqueous leaves extract of Lantana camara. The ecofriendly synthesized AgNPs was first confirm by the observation of a distinct colour change from colourless to light brown after addition of the aqueous leaves extract to 0.1 M silver nitrate salt solution. The AgNPs was examined using UV-vis spectroscopy which revealed a characteristics peak maxima at 430 nm. FTIR analysis revealed the possible biomolecules present in the leaves extract responsible for capping and stabilization of AgNPs. XRD analysis revealed the crystalline nature with particle size of 35.41 nm. SEM-EDS revealed the surface morphology and elemental composition with silver accounting for 71%. Dye degradation activity of AgNPs on congo red dye was also investigated which revealed that the degradation efficiency increased as concentration and exposure time increased with 80% efficiency achieved after after 6 hours. The result clearly shows the potential of ecofriendly synthesized AgNPs in enhancing the degradation of congo red dye.