Persea Americana Leaf Extract-Derived Nanohybrids: A Sustainable and Green Approach for Rapid Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Contaminants in Water

Abstract

This study introduces a straightforward, sustainable, and eco-friendly approach to fabricating nanohybrids of TiO₂ integrated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) derived from Persea americana leaves at ambient temperature, thus obviating the requirement for harmful chemicals. The Persea americana leaf extracts serve as both reducing and capping agents, and the reaction at room temperature enables precise control over the nucleation and growth of anisotropic TiO₂ particles within the nanohybrid structure. Surface morphology analysis reveals a mitochondria-like morphology with distorted spherical tips for the TiO₂ particles, while the CNTs act as connecting bridges. TEM analysis confirms that the CNTs are multiwalled, and TiO₂ exhibits a crystallite size of around 12.1 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the synthesized TiO₂ exhibits the anatase phase. Assessment of the photocatalytic performance using methylene blue (MB) as a model contaminant demonstrates remarkable results, with the nanohybrid achieving 99.80% degradation of the dye and over 98.3% degradation within an hour under both UV and visible light, respectively. Furthermore, the TiO₂/CNT nanohybrid exhibits excellent recyclability even after numerous cycles, consistently achieving dye removal exceeding 99.99%. Overall, the TiO₂/CNT nanohybrid demonstrates the rapid and efficient removal of hazardous dyes from industrial water waste while maintaining its degradation efficiency over multiple uses. Additionally, its sustainable and straightforward synthesis methods make it a promising advanced material for water remediation applications.