Anticancer, antibacterial and pollutant degradation potential of silver nanoparticles from Hyphaene thebaica.

We present here the biosynthesis of AgNps from the aqueous extract of H. thebaica fruit, and monitored through UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The functional group were characterized through ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, the particle size, morphologies and elemental composition of the nanoparticles were investigated by using TEM, FESEM and EDS respectively. The anti-proliferation activity of the synthesized AgNps was carried out using MTT assay on human prostate (PC3), breast (MCF7) and liver (HepG2) cancer cell lines. The anti-proliferation assay showed that the AgNps were able to inhibit the proliferation of the cancer cell lines in a dose depending manner. The effect was found more pronounced on prostate (IC50 2.6 mg/mL) followed by breast (IC50 4.8 mg/mL) and then liver cancer cell lines (IC50 6.8 mg/mL). The prepared AgNps were found to inhibit 99% growth of both E. coli and S. aureus after 24 h of incubation. The nanoparticles were used for the degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and Congo red dyes (CR), which efficiently degrade CR, but make complex formation with 4-NP. Therefore, the AgNps synthesized from the aqueous fruit extract of H. thebaica have potential application in pharmacology and waste water treatment.

Photocatalytic degradation of Congo red using Carissa edulis extract capped zinc oxide nanoparticles.

The use of plant extract to synthesize nanoparticle has been considered as one of the eco-friendly method. Additionally, it is a strong alternate for conventional methods which includes chemical and physical approach. In this study, microwave assisted extraction of Carissa edulis (C. edulis) at 70°C and 400W was used to extract the secondary metabolites. Further, the metabolites were used as capping agent and Zn (NO3)2 as the metal precursor to synthesize ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, XRD, SEM and HR-TEM were used for the characterization of nanoparticles. The Surface Plasmon Resonance around 358nm from the UV-Vis spectroscopy result represents the ZnO NPs formation. The FT-IR confirms the presence of functional groups that acts as the capping agent for the synthesis of ZnO NPs. The crystalline structure of nanoparticles is revealed in the XRD result, morphology showed by SEM results and the size of the ZnO NPs were predicted by HR-TEM. We have carried out the photocatalytic degradation of Congo red at 365nm in photo reactor using ZnO NPs. The result from the photocatalytic degradation Congo red showed rate constant is (-k) 0.4947 with 97% of degradation. This is our first attempt on the C. edulis extract on ZnO NPs preparation and Congo red dye degradation revels that ZnO NPs exhibit good photocatalytic property.

Hypercrosslinked poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) resin as a specific polymeric adsorbent for purification of berberine hydrochloride from aqueous solutions.

A hypercrosslinked poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) resin (TEPA) was synthesized and characterized as a specific polymeric adsorbent for concentrating berberine hydrochloride from aqueous solutions. Three organic molecules of different sizes (2-naphthol, berberine hydrochloride, and Congo red) were used as target molecules to elucidate the molecular sieving effect of the TEPA adsorbent. Because the TEPA adsorbent has a pore structure consisting mainly of micropores and mesopores, the adsorption of 2-naphthol from aqueous solutions is very efficient due to the micropore filling effect. The adsorption of berberine hydrochloride mostly takes place in the mesopores as well as macropores, while the adsorption of Congo red mainly occurs in the macropores. The smaller adsorbate molecule (2-naphthol) reaches the adsorption equilibrium much faster than the larger ones (berberine hydrochloride and Congo red). An adsorption breakthrough experiment with an aqueous solution containing 2-naphthol and berberine hydrochloride demonstrated that the TEPA adsorbent could effectively remove 2-naphthol from berberine hydrochloride at 0-107 BV (bed volume, 1 BV=10 ml), and the berberine hydrochloride concentration was increased from 66.7% to 99.4%, suggesting that this polymeric adsorbent is promising for purifying berberine hydrochloride and similar alkaloids from herbal plant extracts.

Natural Iraqi palygorskite clay as low cost adsorbent for the treatment of dye containing industrial wastewater.

In this study, natural Iraqi low- cost locally available clay (palygorskite) was studied for its potential use as an adsorbent for removal Congo red from aqueous solutions. Batch type experiments were conducted to study the effect of contact time, initial pH of the dye solution, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, and particle size of adsorbent on adsorption capacity of Congo red. The adsorption occurred very fast initially and attains equilibrium within 60 min. When the effect of pH of solution dye on the yield adsorption has been carried in a range of 2-10, the adsorption obtained was nearly the same with very slightly effect of pH and it was reported that above 49.07 mg/g of Cong red by palygorskite clay occurred in the pH range 2 to 10. It was observed that the removal of Congo red increase with increasing initial dye concentration and adsorbent dose, but, adsorption capacity decrease with increasing adsorbent dose. The adsorption capacity increase with decreasing particle size of adsorbent. The equilibrium adsorption data were interpreted using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The obtained results revealed that the equilibrium data closely followed both models, but the Langmuir isotherm fitted the data better. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 99 mg/g at ambient temperature. Results indicate that Iraqi palygorskite clay could be employed as a low cost alternative to commercial activated carbon in wastewater treatment for the removal of colour and dyes.

Jute stick powder as a potential biomass for the removal of congo red and rhodamine B from their aqueous solution.

Jute stick powder (JSP) has been found to be a promising material for adsorptive removal of congo red (C.I. 22120) and rhodamine B (C.I. 45170) from aqueous solutions. Physico-chemical parameters like dye concentration, solution pH, temperature and contact time have been varied to study the adsorption phenomenon. Favorable adsorption occurs at around pH 7.0 whereas temperature has no significant effect on adsorption of both the dyes. The maximum adsorption capacity has been calculated to be 35.7 and 87.7mg/g of the biomass for congo red and rhodamine B, respectively. The adsorption process is in conformity with Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms for rhodamine B whereas congo red adsorption fits well to Langmuir isotherm only. In both the cases, adsorption occurs very fast initially and attains equilibrium within 60min. Kinetic results suggest the intra-particle diffusion of dyes as rate limiting step.

Removal of congo red from aqueous solution by adsorption onto acid activated red mud.

The objective of this study is to remove the congo red (CR) anionic dye, from water by using the acid activated red mud in batch adsorption experiments. The effects of contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage and initial dye concentration on the adsorption were investigated. The pH of the dye solution strongly affected the chemistry of both the dye molecules and activated red mud in an aqueous solution. The effective pH was 7.0 for adsorption on activated red mud. It was found that the sufficient time to attain equilibrium was 90 min. The adsorption isotherms were analyzed using the Langmuir, the Freundlich, and the three parameter Redlich-Peterson isotherms. The Langmuir isotherm was the best-fit adsorption isotherm model for the experimental data obtained from the non-linear chi-square statistic test.

Azadirachta indica leaf powder as an effective biosorbent for dyes: a case study with aqueous Congo Red solutions.

In the present work, the leaves of Azadirachta indica (locally known as the Neem tree) in the form of a powder were investigated as a biosorbent of dyes taking aqueous Congo Red solution as a model system. The sorbent was made from mature Neem leaves and was investigated in a batch reactor under variable system parameters such as concentration of the aqueous dye solution, agitation time, adsorbent amount, pH, and temperature. An amount of 0.6 g of the Neem leaf powder (NLP) per litre could remove 52.0-99.0% of the dye from an aqueous solution of concentration 2.87 x 10(-2) mmol l(-1) with the agitation time increasing from 60 to 300 min. The interactions were tested with respect to both pseudo first-order and second-order reaction kinetics; the latter was found to be more suitable. Considerable intra-particle diffusion was found to occur simultaneously. The sorption process was in conformity with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms yielding values of the adsorption coefficients in the following ranges: Freundlich n: 0.12-0.19, Kf: 0.1039-0.2648 L g(-1); Langmuir qm: 41.24-128.26 g kg(-1), b: 443.3-1898.0 l mmol(-1), which supported favourable adsorption. The Langmuir monolayer capacity (qm) was high and the values of the coefficient b indicated the equilibrium, dye + NLP = dye...NLP being shifted overwhelmingly towards adsorption. Thermodynamically, the sorption process was exothermic with an average heat of adsorption of -12.75 kJ mol(-1). The spontaneity of the sorption process was also confirmed by the favourable values of Gibbs energy (mean values: -1.09 to -1.81 kJ mol(-1)) and entropy of adsorption (range: -18.97 to -56.32 J mol(-1)K(-1)). The results point to the effectiveness of the Neem leaf powder as a biosorbent for removing dyes like Congo Red from water.