CATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF DYES BY METALLIC NANOPARTICLES BIOSYNTHESIZED FROM LEAF EXTRACT OF CENTELLA ASIATICA

Abstract

During last decades disposal of dye based pollutants is a severe concern that challenges our environment. Dyes are a major class of synthetic organic compounds released by many industries such as textile, plastic, paper, food, and tanneries, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. These dyes are carcinogenic and highly stable in the water moreover conventional methods are unable to degrade these dyes posing a threat to the mankind and nature. Physical and Chemical methods employed for the degradation of the dyes again use harmful and toxic chemicals. In this study AgNPs and CuNPs were synthesized with the plant extracts of Centella asiatica using the metallic salts for the respective Metallic nanoparticle. The nanoparticles synthesized were characterized with UV-Vis spectrophotometer and SEM analysis. The UVVis gave the characteristic SPR peak for silver at 420 nm and 323 nm for copper. SEM images revealed the size in the range of 30-50 nm for silver and 10-30 nm for copper nanoparticles. Metal (NPs) have received great attention due to their catalytic role in the degradation of organic dyes, as they acts as a redox catalyst in the degradation of dyes by electron relay effect between donor and acceptor molecules. Thus in the present study we have exploited tis property for dye degradation of MO, MR, PR, and EY with photocatalysis and chemical catalysis with NaBH4.