Environmental benign approach for copper oxide nanoparticles synthesis for efficient wastewater treatment and biomedical applications

Abstract

This study introduces an eco-friendly, economical, and facile method of CuO NPs (copper oxide nanoparticles) green synthesis utilizing Terminalia chebula seed powder extract. Characterization of CuO NPs confirmed their successful synthesis, revealing size dimensions of 5 - 12.2 nm and spherical shape. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX) analysis showed the predominant presence of copper and oxygen elements, constituting 77.9 % and 22.0 % by weight, respectively. CuO NPs exhibited significant efficacy in removing Crystal Violet (CV) dye through adsorption, achieving 93.8 % removal of 50 ppm CV dye by NPs dosage of 2 g/L within 40 min of contact time. CuO NPs adsorbed CV dye using Langmuir isotherm model. Synthesized NPs demonstrated excellent reusability for five consecutive cycles of dye removal. Moreover, a notable 72.2 % dye decolorization was observed when textile wastewater spiked with 75 ppm of CV dye was treated with these NPs. Another important feature of synthesized CuO NPs was that they also showed excellent remediation capabilities for heavy metals namely, Chromium and Lead. According to the phytotoxicity assessment on Vigna radiata seedlings, textile wastewater treated with CuO NPs is suitable for irrigation, which is consistent with the goals of sustainability. In addition, CuO NPs have promising antibacterial activity against both Gram +ve and Gram -ve bacteria. Therefore, the conducted work presents an environmentally benign approach for CuO NPs synthesis, offering versatile applications in biomedical field and wastewater treatment.