Pomegranate Punica granatum peel waste as a naked-eye natural colorimetric sensor for the detection and determination of Fe+3 and I- ions in water.

ABSTRACT

The utilization of renewable and abundant agricultural waste such as Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel extract has been developed wherein a simple extraction of dried peel in water offered a natural sensor; ensuing yellowish solution comprising phenolic compounds reacted explicitly to detect Fe+3 and I- solutions by naked-eye. The UV-Vis absorption spectrum of the resulting extracted mixture was drastically changed toward the longer wavelengths only after the addition of the Fe3+ and I- while there was no discernible spectral change due to the addition of a broad range of other common cations and anions. In the case of Fe3+ and I-, the transformation can be followed by the naked eye in the concentration range of 5 × 10-4 M and 1 × 10-2 M, respectively. An acceptable and reasonable detection with 47.05426 µM efficiency was attained in comparison to other Fe3+ indicators such as ferroin.