Natural biopolymer mediated green synthesis of silver nanoparticles and its applications in environmental remediation

Numerous lives around the world are impacted by water pollution. Many effluents and toxins from numerous industries are being released directly into the freshwater bodies causing serious problems to various living creatures in the environment. There are many approaches in practice for water purification, among which are nano-adsorbent technologies that are considered to be sustainable and is the most reliable method. In this study, 3 different types of silver nanoparticles have been synthesized using three plant gums, namely, Moringa oleifera (MO), Azadirachta indica (AI), and Bauhinia purpurea (BP). The green synthesized silver nanoparticles have been characterized using UV Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), etc. Bioactivity studies like antibacterial activity and antioxidant activity have been observed, and pesticidal activity was also performed by exposing the mealybugs (Phenacoccus solenopsis) to three different silver nanoparticles (concentrations: 10 mu g/ml and 20 mu g/ml). These silver nanoparticles were subjected to a batch adsorption system for the effective removal of methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), congo red (CR), rifampicin (RF), and chromium (CH).