GREEN SYNTHESIS OF NANOPARTICLES BY FRUIT PEELS FOR WATER PURIFICATION

Abstract

Increasing use of metal nanoparticles in many sectors of the economy, there is growing interest in the environmental and biological safety of their production. Main methods for synthesis of metal nanoparticles are chemical and physical which are costly and harmful to the environment. Researchers have found an alternative, efficient, inexpensive method for metal nanoparticle production i.e. using plants or plants extract which contains phenolic groups which act as reducing agent and capping agent, which will ultimately reduce metal ions into nanoparticles. This green synthesis method is environmentally friendly. Report mainly focuses on the synthesis of silver and iron-based biomaterial developed from fruit peel. Developed biomaterial were characterised using TEM, FESEM-EDAX, XRD, XPS, ICP-MS. Silver based biomaterial named NSMR-Ag, was checked for the antibacterial and antiviral activity and was later tested for the practical application. Iron based biomaterial named NSMR-Fe, was used for the reduction of chromium (VI) at laboratory scale. Both developed biomaterials have been tested successfully for their respective applications.