Characterization of silver nano-spheres synthesized using the extract of Arachis hypogaea nuts and their catalytic potential to degrade dyes

Abstract Metal nanoparticles have lately been considered as a very promising material in a host of applications such as medicine, catalysis, energy, electronics and environmental remediation. Their green synthesis is currently driving the trend owing to operational convenience and product stability. The approach is simple, rapid, ecofriendly and compatible with the biologically-derived molecules. The present study describes the silver nanoparticle synthesis using the whole nut extract of Arachis hypogaea (peanut). Upon using UV–visible spectroscopy to confirm the actual realization of the nanoparticles, a characteristic peak was detected at 435 nm. The nanoparticles were then analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (for morphological imaging and size confirmation), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (for element-wise composition) and X-ray diffraction (for verifying crystallinity). Investigation using FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of phytochemicals that would be responsible for the reduction (mono-to zero-valent silver). Dynamic light scattering revealed the particle size profiling in the preparation and confirmed the particles were mono-disperse. It also provided a zeta potential of −34.6 mV, implying that the silver nanoparticles were stable. The work concluded with the catalysis based application of the synthesized nanoparticles towards environmental remediation, in the presence of NaBH4. The degradation of the two commercial fabric dyes, acid red 88 and acid blue 113 was achieved in the experimental study.