Green synthesis of nanostructured silver particles and their catalytic application in dye degradation

Today, discharge of hazardous dyes from textile industries in water bodies like lakes, rivers and groundwater has become a serious problem, which contributes to increase their pollution levels significantly. These pollutants are difficult to remove by traditional water treatment procedures. Thus, there is a need to develop more suitable methods of effluent treatment. Here, we describe use of green-synthesized nanostructured silver particles in degradation of hazardous dyes like Safranine O, Methyl red, Methyl orange and Methylene blue etc. The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) used as nanocatalysts were synthesized using Zanthoxylum armatum leaves. The reduction of silver ions and the formation of AgNPs have been assessed by UV-Vis spectroscopy. DLS, SEM-EDX, TEM, SAED and XRD studies revealed that the AgNPs were crystalline in nature with size range from 15 to 50 nm. The report emphasizes that the AgNPs are observed to be an excellent catalyst on reduction of hazardous dyes, which is confirmed by a decrease in absorbance maximum values.