Environmentally sustainable zinc oxide nanoparticles for improved hazardous textile dye removal from water bodies

Abstract

A sustainable, affordable, and cost-effective method was developed to synthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles (SB-ZnO-NPs) using leaf extracts of Strobilanthes barbatus. The synthesized SB-ZnO-NPs displayed an absorbance maximum at 359 nm with a band gap of 3.24 eV. The average diameter of the SB-ZnO-NPs, as determined by FESEM analysis, was 84.23 nm. The particles had nearly spherical morphologies. By using FTIR analysis, it was established that functional groups played a part in the formation of SB-ZnO-NPs. Reactive Yellow 86 (RY-86) and Reactive Yellow 145 (RY-145) textile dyes were degraded by SB-ZnO-NPs under the impact of UV irradiation, and the degradation rates were 87.50 and 91.11%, respectively, in 320 min. When dye solutions treated with SB-ZnO-NPs were tested for phytotoxicity, the results showed a sharp decline in the effectiveness of the inhibition compared to dye effluents. The synthesised SB-ZnO-NPs can, therefore, be employed as a substitute potential catalyst for the breakdown of textile colours both before and after release into water bodies. HIGHLIGHTS An environmentally friendly green-synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticle was biosynthesized using Strobilanthes barbatus plant extract.; Reactive Yellow industrial textile dyes were found to degrade photocatalytically when exposed to UV radiation.; Phytotoxicity research reveals that degraded dyes are less hazardous to aquatic life.;

Keywords

• green synthesis
• photocatalytic degradation
• phytotoxicity
• reactive yellow dyes
• uv radiation
• zinc oxide nanoparticles