GREEN SYNTHESIS OF TITANIUM OXIDE (TIO2) NANOPARTICLES USING Phyllanthus Niruri AND ASSESSMENT OF ITS PHYSIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Abstract

This study investigates the green synthesis of titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, NPs and assessment of its physiochemical parameters in wastewater treatment. The methanol plant extract of Phyllanthus niruri was utilized for the biosynthesis of titanium oxide NPs. The preliminary phytochemical screening carried out on Phyllanthus niruri plant extract was conducted to identify the bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, anthraquinones, glycosides and steroids which may be responsible for stabilizing the nanoparticles synthesized. In the treatment of the industrial wastewater sample; the result indicated that the use of the synthesized titanium oxide nanoparticles led to percentage reduction of 67.21%, 58.96%, 91.19%, 75.56% and 94.67% for BOD, COD, turbidity, oil and grease and phosphate respectively, in the raw wastewater; and was more effective than the use of commercial titanium oxide NPs. The study indicates that synthesis of titanium oxide NPs using Phyllanthus niruri is a better alternative to chemical synthesis of NPs, the green synthesized material is eco-friendly and can serve as a treatment for industrial effluents.