A Novel Biomaterial for Decolorization of Azo Dyes: Myoglobin-Zn(II) Assisted Hybrid Nanoflowers

Protein-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers are new multifunctional materials shown enhanced catalytic performance. Specially, they are used as catalyst and dye decolorizer via Fenton reaction. In this study, the Myoglobin-Zn (II) assisted hybrid nanoflowers (MbNFs@Zn) were fabricated by using myoglobin and zinc (II) ions in different synthesis conditions. The optimum morphology was characterized SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD, and FT-IR. The hemisphere and uniform morphology was obtained at pH 6 and 0.1 mg mL^-1 . The size of MbNFs@Zn are 5-6 μm. The encapsulation yield was ∼95 %. In the presence of H₂ O₂ , the peroxidase mimic activity of MbNFs@Zn was spectrophotometrically investigated in the different pH values (4-9). The highest peroxidase mimic activity was found as 3.378 EU/mg at pH 4. MbNFs@Zn was exhibited 0.28 EU/mg after eight cycles. MbNFs@Zn has lost about 92 % of its activity. The usability of MbNFs@Zn for decolorization of azo dyes such as Congo red (CR), and Evans blue (EB) was researched at different times, temperatures and concentrations. The decolorization efficiency was found maximum as 92.3 % and 88.4 % for EB and CR dyes, respectively. MbNFs@Zn has perfect properties such as enhanced catalytic performance, high decolorization efficiency, stability and reusability, and can be excellent potential materials for many industrial applications.