Metal nanoparticles decorated mint-cellulose acetate composite as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of methyl orange

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules 2024-05, Vol.268, p.131558-131558, Article 131558
• Main Authors: Homdi, Tahani A., Fagieh, Taghreed M., Akhtar, Kalsoom, Bakhsh, Esraa M., Alhemadan, Abeer H., Khan, Sher Bahadar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalytic reduction; Cellulose acetate; Composite; Mint leaves; Silver nanoparticles
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131558

Water contamination caused by toxic compounds has emerged as one of the most severe challenges worldwide. Biomass-based nanocomposites offer a sustainable and renewable alternative to conventional materials. In this study, a nanocomposite of mint and cellulose acetate (Mint-CA) was prepared and employed as a supportive material for Cu nanoparticles (CuNPs) and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs). The selectivity of CuNPs@mint-CA and AgNPs@mint-CA was assessed by comparing their performance in the reduction reaction of various dyes solutions. AgNPs@mint-CA exhibited superior catalytic performance, with a removal of 95.2 % for methyl orange (MO) compared to 68 % with CuNPs@mint-CA. The absorption spectra of MO exhibited a distinct peak at 464 nm. The reduction reaction of MO by AgNPs@mint-CA followed pseudo-first-order-kinetic with a rate constant of k = 0.0063 min−1 (R2 = 0.928). The highest removal of MO was achieved under the following conditions: a catalyst weight of 40 mg, an initial MO concentration of 0.07 mM, the addition of 0.5 mL of 0.1 M NaBH4, and a temperature of 25 °C. Furthermore, the AgNPs@mint-CA catalyst exhibited exceptional reducibility even after five use cycles, highlighting its potential for efficiently removing MO. [Display omitted]