Green synthesis of rGO/Ag nanocomposite using extracts of Cinnamomum verum plant bark: Characterization and evaluation of its application for Methylene blue dye removal from aqueous solutions

Document Type : Reasearch Paper

Authors

Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology University, P O Box 1888, Adama, Ethiopia.

Abstract

We herein report the green synthesis of a reduced Graphene Oxide/Silver nanoparticle (rGO/AgNP) nanocomposite by simultaneously reduction of graphene oxide and silver ions using an aqueous extract of cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) plant bark. Methylene blue dye removal capacity and efficiency of the nanocomposite was evaluated.  The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by using UV‑DRS, SEM, P‑XRD, and FTIR spectroscopy. The XRD results showed the average particle sizes Ag NPs, rGO, and rGO/Ag NPs nanocomposite to 29.9 nm, 0.67 nm, and 13.35 nm respectively. The UV-DRS analysis result showed that rGO/Ag nanocomposite exhibited two absorbance peaks at 272 & 334 nm which corresponds to rGO and Ag NPs respectively. The FTIR spectral data revealed the functional groups characteristics of phytochemicals in the plant extract, rGO and rGO/AgNP nanocomposite. The surface morphology from SEM result obtained indicated that Ag NPs showed non-homogeneity and different shapes, rGO had thin flat layer sheet morphology whereas Ag NPs were deposited on rGO nanosheets in the form of clusters in the rGO/AgNP nanocomposite. The rGO/AgNP nanocomposite had highest methylene blue removal efficiency of 99.98% at optimum pH 2, adsorbent dose 80 mg, contact time 50 min and initial concentration of 10 mg/l. The Adsorption isotherms were well fitted to Langmuir isotherm for all synthesized adsorbents. The adsorption kinetics results were best fitted to the pseudo-second-order model. The green synthesized rGO/AgNP nanocomposite has the potential to be used as an adsorbent in wastewater treatment applications.

Keywords


  1. Crini G., Lichtfouse E., Chanet G., Morin-Crini N., (2020), Applications of hemp in textiles, paper industry, insulation and building materials, horticulture, animal nutrition, food and beverages, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and hygiene, medicine, agrochemistry, energy production and environment.  Chem. Lett.18: 1451‑1476. 
  2. Jemal A. F., Fangnon Firmin Rejoice F., (2020), Effectiveness assessment of industrial effluent standard implementation in addis ababa city, Ethiopia. J. Sci. Res. Pub. 10: 141‑148. 
  3. Menbere M. P., Menbere T. P., (2019), Industrial wastes and their management challenges in Ethiopia. Institutions. 11: 1-6.
  4. Konicki W., Aleksandrzak M., Mijowska E., (2017), Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies on adsorption of cationic dyes from aqueous solutions using graphene oxide. Eng. Res.  Des. 123: 35‑49.
  5. Guarín J. R., Moreno-Pirajan J. C., Giraldo L., (2018), Kinetic study of the bioadsorption of methylene blue on the surface of the biomass obtained from the algae D. Antarctica. Chem. 2018: 1‑12. 
  6. Aboubaraka A. E., Aboelfetoh E. F., Ebeid E. Z. M., (2017), Coagulation effectiveness of graphene oxide for the removal of turbidity from raw surface water. Chemosphere. 181: 738‑746. 
  7. Fu L., Fu Z., (2015), Plectranthus amboinicus leaf extract assisted biosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and their photocatalytic activity. Int. 41: 2492–2496.
  8. Sreeprasad T. S., Maliyekkal S. M., Lisha K. P., Pradeep T., (2011), Reduced graphene oxide–metal/metal oxide composites: Facile synthesis and application in water purification. Hazard Mater. 186: 921–931.
  9. Fei P., Zhong M., Lei Z., Su B., (2013), One-pot solvothermal synthesized enhanced magnetic zinc ferrite‑reduced graphene oxide composite material as adsorbent for methylene blue removal. Let. 108: 72‑74.
  10. Choi B.-hee., Lee H.-H., Jin S., Chun S., Kim S.-H., (2007), Characterization of the optical properties of silver nanoparticle films. 18: 075706-075710.
  11. Lu Y., Mei Y., Schrinner M., Ballauff M., Möller M. W., Breu J., (2007), In situ formation of Ag nanoparticles in spherical polyacrylic acid brushes by UV irradiation.Phys. Chem. C. 111: 7676‑7681. 
  12. Vidhu V. K., Philip D., (2014), Catalytic degradation of organic dyes using biosynthesized silver nanoparticles. Micron. 56: 54‑62. 
  13. Azeez L., Lateef A., Adebisi S. A., Oyedeji A. O., (2018), Novel biosynthesized silver nanoparticles from Cobweb as adsorbent for rhodamine B: Equilibrium Isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic studies. Water Sci. 8: 1-12.
  14. Azizi Lalabadi M., Hashemi H., Feng J., Jafari S. M., (2020), Carbon nanomaterialagainst pathogens; theantimicrobial activity of carbon nanotubes, graphene/graphene oxide, fullerenes, and their nanocomposites. Colloid Interf. Sci. 284: 102250-102256.
  15. Nabavi S., di Lorenzo A., Izadi M., Sobarzo Sánchez E., Daglia M., Nabavi S., (2015), Antibacterial effects of cinnamon: From farm to food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Nutrients. 7:7729‑7748. 
  16. Moosavi R., Ramanathan S., Lee Y. Y., Siew Ling K. C., Afkhami A., Archunan G., Padmanabhan P., Gulyás B., Kakran M., Selvan S. T., (2015), Synthesis of antibacterial and magnetic nanocomposites by decorating graphene oxide surface with metal nanoparticles. RSC Adv. 93: 76442‑76450. 
  17. Suresh D., Udayabhanu P. K. M., Nagabhushana H., Sharma S., (2015), Cinnamon supported facile green reduction of graphene oxide, its dye elimination and antioxidant activities. Lett. 151: 93‑95. 
  18. Supritha C. T., (2021), Green synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles using cinnamomum zeylanicum bark extract. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci. 10: 444‑451.
  19. Ghareeb M. A., Habib M. R., Mossalem H. S., Abdel-Aziz M. S., (2018), Phytochemical analysis of eucalyptus camaldulensis leaves extracts and testing its antimicrobial and schistosomicidal activities. Nati. Res. Cent. 42: 1-9.
  20. IK M., Uthman ISAH K., (2015), The effect on extracting solvents using natural dye extracts from hyphaene thebaica for dye sensitized solar cells.Sci. Eng. 5: 119-125.
  21. Dandjesso C., (2012), Phytochemistry and hemostatic properties of some medicinal plants sold as anti-hemorrhagic in Cotonou Markets (Benin). J. Sci. Technol. 5: 1–5.
  22. Sofowora A., (1996), Research on medicinal plants and traditional medicine in Africa. Alter. Complement. Med. 2: 365‑372.
  23. Mulushewa Z., Dinbore W. T., Ayele Y., (2021), Removal of methylene blue from textile waste water using kaolin and zeolite-x synthesized from Ethiopian kaolin. Anal. Health Toxicol. 36: 23-28.
  24. Markandeya Shukla S. P., Dhiman N., Mohan D., Kisku G. C., Roy S., (2017), An efficient removal of disperse dye from wastewater using zeolite synthesized from cenospheres. Hazard. Toxic Radioact. Waste. 21: 04017017.
  25. Yuan N., Cai H., Liu T., Huang Q., Zhang X., (2019), Adsorptive removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution using coal fly ash-derived mesoporous silica material. Sci.  Technol. 37: 333‑348. 
  26. Paliwal R., Sharma V., Sharma S., (2011), Elucidation of free radical scavenging and antioxidant activity of aqueous and hydro-ethanolic extracts of Moringa oleifera pods. J. Pharm Technol. 4: 566-571.
  27. Ebana R., Edet U., Ekanemesang U., Etok C., Ikon G., Noble M., (2016), Phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of three medicinal plants against urinary tract infection pathogens. Asian J. Med. Health. 1: 1–7.
  28. Ibrahim H. M. M., (2015), Green synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles using banana peel extract and their antimicrobial activity against representative microorganisms. Radiat. Res. Appl. Sci. 8: 265–275.  
  29. Hemmati S., Heravi M. M., Karmakar B., Veisi H., (2020), Green fabrication of reduced graphene oxide decorated with Ag nanoparticles (rGO/Ag NPs) nanocomposite: A reusable catalyst for the degradation of environmental pollutants in aqueous medium. Mol. Liq. 319: 114302.
  30. Gawade V. V., Gavade N. L., Shinde H. M., Babar S. B., Kadam A. N., Garadkar K. M., (2017), Green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles by using Calotropis Procera leaves for the photo degradation of methyl orange. Mater. Sci. Mater. Elec. 28: 14033‑14039.
  31. Singaravelan R., Bangaru Sudarsan Alwar S., (2015), Electrochemical synthesis, characterization and phytogenic properties of silver nanoparticles. Nanosci. 5: 983–991.
  32. Bai R. G., Muthoosamy K., Shipton F. N., Pandikumar A., Rameshkumar P., Huang N. M., Manickam S., (2016), The biogenic synthesis of a reduced graphene oxide-silver (rGO‑Ag) nanocomposite and its dual applications as an antibacterial agent and cancer biomarker sensor. RSC Adv. 43: 36576-36587.
  33. Jeon J.-W., Jeon D.-W., Sahoo T., Kim M., Baek J.-H., Hoffman J. L., Kim N. S., Lee I.-H., (2011), Effect of annealing temperature on optical band-gap of amorphous indium zinc oxide film. Alloy Compd. 509: 10062–10065.
  34. Lu X. M., Zhu J. S., Zhang W. Y., Ma G. Q., Wang Y. N., (1996), The energy gap of rf-sputtered BaTiO3 thin films with different grain size. Thin Solid Films. 274: 165–168.
  35. Kim B. S., Salunke B., Sawant S., Alkotaini B., (2014), Biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles using plant leaf extracts and their specific antimicrobial activity. New Biotechnol. 31: 125-129.
  36. Lee S., Jun B.-H., (2019), Silver nanoparticles: Synthesis and application for nanomedicine. J. Mol. Sci. 20: 865-869.
  37. Theivasanthi T., Alagar M., (2012), Electrolytic synthesis and characterization of silver nanopowder. Nano Biomed. Eng.4: 112-118.
  38. Singh S., Joshi M., Panthari P., Malhotra B., Kharkwal A. C., Kharkwal H., (2017), Citrulline rich structurally stable zinc oxide nanostructures for superior photo catalytic and optoelectronic applications: A green synthesis approach. Nano‑Struct. Nano‑Objects. 11: 1–6.
  39. Mangalam J., Kumar M., Sharma M., Joshi M., (2019), High adsorptivity and visible light assisted photocatalytic activity of silver/reduced graphene oxide (Ag/rGO) nanocomposite for wastewater treatment. Nano-Struct. Nano-Objects. 17: 58–66.
  40. Das S. K., Khan M. M., Parandhaman T., Laffir F., Guha A. K., Sekaran G., Mandal A. B., (2013), Nano-silica fabricated with silver nanoparticles: Antifouling adsorbent for efficient dye removal, effective water disinfection and biofouling control. Nanoscale. 5: 5549-5553.
  41. Wu Q., Feng C., Wang C., Wang Z., (2013), A facile one-pot solvothermal method to produce superparamagnetic graphene–Fe3O4 nanocomposite and its application in the removal of dye from aqueous solution. Colloids Surf. B. 101: 210–214.
  42. Elmorsi T. M., (2011), Equilibrium isotherms and kinetic studies of removal of methylene blue dye by adsorption onto Miswak leaves as a natural adsorbent. Environ. Prot. 02: 817‑827.
  43. Rahman M. A., Amin S. M., Alam A. M., (2012), Removal of methylene blue from waste water using activated carbon prepared from rice husk. Dhaka Univ. J. Sci. 60: 185–189.
  44. Gemeay A. H., Elsharkawy R. G., Aboelfetoh E. F., (2017), Graphene Oxide/Polyaniline/Manganese Oxide Ternary nanocomposites, facile synthesis, characterization, and application for indigo carmine removal. Polym. Environ. 26: 655–669.
  45. Md Sandollah N. A., Sheikh Mohd Ghazali S. A., Wan Ibrahim W. N., Rusmin R., (2020), Adsorption-desorption profile of methylene blue dye on raw and acid activated kaolinite. J. Chem. 20: 755-765.
  46. Kavithad D., Namasivayam C., (2007), Experimental and kinetic studies on methylene blue adsorption by Coir Pith Carbon. Bioresource Technol. 98: 14–21.
  47. Wang H., Yuan X., Zeng G., Leng L., Peng X., Liao K., Peng L., Xiao Z., (2014), Removal of malachite green dye from wastewater by different organic acid-modified natural adsorbent: Kinetics, equilibriums, mechanisms, practical application, and disposal of dye-loaded adsorbent. Sci. Pollut. Res. 21: 11552–11564.
  48. Salifu A., (2017), Fluoride removal from drinking water using granular aluminum-coated bauxite as adsorbent: Optimization of synthesis process conditions and equilibrium study. Fluoride Remov. Groundwater Adsorp. Technol. (pp.161–202). CRC Press.
  49. Hermawan A. A., Bing T. K., Salamatinia B., (2015), Application and optimization of using recycled pulp for methylene blue removal from wastewater: A response surface methodology approach. J. Environ. Sci. Dev. 6: 267–274.  
  50. Jaseela P. K., Garvasis J., Joseph A., (2019), Selective adsorption of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous mixture of MB and methyl orange (MO) using mesoporous titania (TiO2)‑poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite. Mol. Liq. 286: 110908-110912.