Environmentally sustainable fabrication of palladium nanoparticles from the ethanolic crude extract of Oxystelma esculentum towards effective degradation of organic dye

Abstract

Oxystelma esculentum plant is well-known for its broad spectrum of ayurvedic and conventional medicinal applications. The ethanolic crude extract of this plant was used to synthesize palladium nanoparticles in an environmentally friendly manner. The discreetness of the method adopted is the rapid sustainable fabrication of nanoparticles and the utilization of the nanoparticles for their effective catalytic activity. The systematic characterization of nanoparticles was done by standard analytical tools, UV–Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The appearance of sharp peak at 471 nm indicated the adequate formation of palladium nanoparticles. The morphology and topography of nanoparticles were obtained by SEM and AFM. The crystalline nature of nanoparticles was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The effective catalytic activity against the toxic organic dye methylene blue in the presence of the reducing agent NaBH4. Recognition of products formed by the degradation of methylene blue was then carried out through electrospray ionization coupled mass spectrometry. Moreover, the calculated Pd loading in the nanocomposites was 0.2 mmol/g. Meanwhile, to better evaluate the characteristic role of active species in catalytic degradation, the quenching study by scavengers methanol, ammonium oxalate, p-benzoquinone, and triethanolamine was also performed. Furthermore, the catalyst showed stability and reusability towards the degradation of a pollutant, thus can be also explored for other emerging pollutants.