International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Volume 10, Issue 01, January 2019, pp. 1547-1554, Article ID: IJMET_10_01_157 Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijmet/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&IType=01 ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES FOR WATER REMEDIATION IN AGRICULTURE D. Gnanasangeetha* Department of Chemistry, PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul, Tamilnadu V. Prathipa Department of Chemistry, PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India. *corresponding author ABSTRACT Zinc oxide nanoparticle embedded in activated silica (ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai) as adsorbent with nano cube shape were synthesized from leaf extract of Acalypha indica via green method. Adsorbent were characterized using SEM, XRD EDAX and FT-IR. Exploration shows that the adsorbent is nano cube shape with an average size of 80 nm with elemental composition of zinc, oxygen and silica with Secondary amine at 2357 cm-1 and Olefinic compound at 1600-1450 cm-1. The percentage of As (III) removal was very significant at 0.03ppm with arsenic removal of 79.47 to 96.19% with 2g adsorbent dosage at a pH of 6 with a contact time of 60 min and at an agitation speed of 300rpm. Results showed that the adsorption process by ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai is monolayer chemisorptions. This research uses existing principles of green chemistry to combat agricultural land contaminated with arsenic (III) by bioremediation of water to prevent biological magnification. Key Words: Activated Silica, Adsorbate, Adsorbent, Isotherm and Kinetics, Zinc oxide Nanoparticles Cite this Article: D. Gnanasangeetha and V. Prathipa, Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Water Remediation in Agriculture, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, 10(01), 2019, pp.1547–1554 http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&Type=01 1. INTRODUCTION Green synthesis of nanoparticle for water remediation using plants is in the exploitation by researchers. Nanotechnology applications are highly suitable for biological molecules, because of their exclusive properties. Although chemical method of synthesis requires short period of time for synthesis of large quantity of nanoparticles, this method requires capping agents for size stabilization of the nanoparticles. Chemicals used for nanoparticles synthesis and stabilization are toxic and lead to non-ecofriendly by products [1]. Green nanotechnology has goals to produce nanomaterials and products without harming the environment or human health and produce nano http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp 1547 editor@iaeme.com D. Gnanasangeetha and V. Prathipa products that provide solutions to environmental problems. To pursue a healthy life and space it is imperative to develop a green synthetic approach to obtain nano materials targeted on different applications. Many such experiments have already been started such as the synthesis of various metal nanoparticles [2] using plants like Oryza sativa, Helianthus annus, Saccharum officinarum, Sorghum bicolour, Zea mays, Basella alba, Aloe vera [3], Capsicum annuum, Magnolia kobus, Medicago sativa (Alfalfa) [4], Cinamomum camphora, Geranium sp, Camellia sinensis (green tea), Azadirachta indica (neem) [5], Oscimum sanctum (tulsi), Corriandrum sativum (Corriander) [6], Emblica officinalis (amla) [7], Sesbania drummondii (leguminous shrub) various leaf broth, natural rubber, starch and lemongrass leaves extract. This method is novel, sustainable and cost effective to combat agricultural land contaminated with arsenic (III) by bioremediation of water to prevent biological magnification. This research uses existing principles of green chemistry and green engineering to make nanomaterials and nano-products without toxic ingredient to warfare the environmental issues like runoff and accumulation of agricultural land with pesticides, fertilizers and heavy metal contaminants. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1. Characterization Leaf extract of Acalypha (0.25, 0.5ml, 1ml to three sets) 50ml of distilled water Vigorous stirring – leave it for 30min 1gm of Zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn (CH3 COO)2.2H2O) 10gm activated silica (AS) 2.0m NaOH Stirr – 2hrs White aq soln at pH12 Washed with distilled water followed by ethanol Δ 60°C ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai Figure 1. Schematic Representation of Green Adsorbent Synthesis (ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai) Synthesis of the adsorbent (ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai) is schematically presented in Fig. 1. The external morphology of ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) (JEOL JSM 6390). The X-Ray powder diffraction pattern of ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai were recorded on X-ray diffractometer (XRD, SHIMADZU, 6000) using Cu (Kα) radiation (λ=1.5416 A˚) operating at 40 kv and 30 mA with 2θ ranging from 10 to 90˚. The average particle size of ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai was determined from XRD patterns using Scherrer’s equation were summarized in Table 1. A Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum was recorded on Jasco FT-IR5300 model spectro photometer in KBr pellets in the range of 4000-400cm-1. The surface characteristic http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp 1548 editor@iaeme.com Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Water Remediation in Agriculture and particle size distribution of ZnO-NPs-AS were investigated using Particle Size analyser (Malvern Model Micro-P, range 0.05-550 micron). Table 1: Grain Size of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles using Acalypha indica Strong Peaks (2θ) (θ) Planes Hkl 31.7705 34.4265 36.2650 15.8852 17.2132 18.1325 100 002 101 Spacing (dhkl ± 0.0006) 0.2771 0.3002 0.3163 FWHM β (radians) Crystalline size (nm) Morphology (shape) 0.3342 0.3314 0.3163 5.82x10-3 5.78x10-3 5.75x10-3 86 79 76 Nano cubes 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Batch experiments were conducted to study the effect of concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH, contact time and agitation speed on ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai for percentage removal of As(III) ions. 3.1. Effect of Concentration Figure 2. Effect of Concentration for ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai The effect of initial concentration of As(III) were studied with a fixed dose of adsorbent 1g, contact time 50min, agitation speed 200 rpm and pH 5 by varying the initial concentration. The experimental results show that the amount of adsorbate adsorbed exponentially increases while the percentage removal decreases from 79.47% with the increase in initial concentration of adsorbate from 0.005ppm. Fig. 2 shows gradual decrease in adsorption with increase in concentration from 0.005ppm to 0.03ppm with removal of As(III) from 79.47% to 61.61% and then constant. The optimum concentration of As(III) is found to be 0.03ppm with 61.61% removal and beyond 0.03ppm concentration, the percentage removal decreases to 23.85% at 0.08ppm. This indicates that there exists a reduction in immediate solute adsorption due to the lack of available active sites on the adsorbent surface compared to the relatively large number of active sites required for the high concentration of adsorbate8. http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp 1549 editor@iaeme.com D. Gnanasangeetha and V. Prathipa 3.2. Effect of Adsorbent Dosage Figure 3. Effect of Adsorbent Dosage for ZnO-NPs-AS- Ai Effect of adsorbent dosage on the adsorption of As (III) is studied by changing the adsorbent (ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai) dosage from 0.5g to 4g and the initial concentration of As (III) was fixed as 0.03ppm. Fig. 3 shows an increase in adsorption from 79.47% for 0.5gto 96.19 for 3g due to greater availability of the surface area. Any further addition of the adsorbent (ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai) beyond 3g did not cause any significant change in the adsorption and begins to decrease to 77.02% and 70.6% for 3.5g and 4g. This is due to over lapping of adsorption sites as a result of overcrowding of adsorbent particle. The maximum As (III) removal of 96.19% was obtained in for adsorbent dose of 3g. 3.3. Effect of pH Figure 4. Effect of pH for ZnO-NPs-AS- Ai It is clear from Fig. 4 that increasing the pH of the solution from 1 to 7 increases the percentage removal of As (III) form 70.6% to 96.19%. This is due to the decline in the competition between H+ ions and As (III) ions for surface sites. Basic pH was also attempted but it could not be investigated due to precipitation. At pH 8 removal of As (III) decreases to 78.2% and optimum pH was selected as 6. http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp 1550 editor@iaeme.com Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Water Remediation in Agriculture 3.4. Effect of Contact Time Figure 5. Effect of Contact Time for ZnO-NPs-AS- Ai The purpose of studying the effect of time on adsorption is to establish the equilibrium reaction time between adsorbent and As (III) ions. The adsorption experiment was carried out using contact time ranging from 10 min to 100 min and the results are depicted in the Fig. 5. It was observed that metal adsorption occurred rapidly for 10 min with 65.62% As (III) removal. The adsorption efficiency of As (III) increased gradually with increasing contact time up to 70 min with 96.19% removal and reached a plateau afterwards and there was no change in adsorption and the equilibration time is 70 min. The data showed that time is a significant factor contributing largely to the adsorption under different sets of condition, as time is required for As (III) ions to diffuse in to the ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai . 3.5. Effect of Agitation Speed Figure.6. Effect of Agitation Speed for ZnO-NPs-AS- Ai The effect of agitation speed on the adsorption rate was investigated by changing the speed in the range of 50 to 400 rpm. The rate of As (III) removal was very significant from 50 rpm to 300 rpm of about 65.62%, 70.6%, 83.69%, 91.38%, 94.98% and 96.19%. Increase in agitation makes the particle to collide with each other with the greater speed resulting in detachment of loosely bound ions also they did not get appropriate time to interact with each other. As shown in Fig. 6 by increasing the speed beyond 350 rpm there was no further increase in adsorption http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp 1551 editor@iaeme.com D. Gnanasangeetha and V. Prathipa instead adsorption decreases to 83.69% at 400 rpm. This is because all the binding sites have been utilized and no binding sites were available for further adsorption. An increasing agitation rate reduces the film boundary layer surrounding the ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai. Maximum percentage removal for varing concentration (ppm), dosage (g), pH, contact time (min) and agitation speed (rpm) with equilibrium parameters are summarised for adsorbent (ZnONPs-AS-Ai) in Table 2. Table 2: Experimental Statistics for Adsorption of As(III) using ZnO-NPs-As-Ai Variables Range Maximum Percentage Removal (%) Initial arsenic concentration (N) Adsorbent dosage (g) Initial pH Contact time (min) Agitation speed (rpm) 0.005-0.1 0.5-4.5 1-8 10-120 50-400 79.47 96.19 96.19 96.19 96.19 Equilibrium Parameters 0.03 (N) 2 (g) 6 60 (min) 300 (rpm) 3.6. Equilibrium Study The plot of Freundlich, Langmuir, Tempkin and BET isotherm values of the constants are shown in Table 3. The linear regression coefficient of Freundlich, Tempkin and BET equation (R2 = 0.962, 0.960 & 0.979) value is comparatively low suggesting that this model is not so suitable for the description of adsorption process when compared with Langmuir isotherm. The Langmuir graph is linear with a reasonably high linear regression coefficient (R2 = 0.989) suggesting that the adsorption process obeys Langmuir model. Also the RL value is 0.980 showing that the Langmuir adsorption is favorable .Therefore the adsorption of As (III) on ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai is said to be monolayer type. Table 3: Adsorption Isotherm Parameters for ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai S. No. 1. Equilibrium Isotherm Equilibrium Parameters Adsorbent ZnO-NPs-AS -Ai n 11.494 KF (L/g) 13.83 Freundlich R 2. Langmuir 3. Tempkin 2 0.962 KL (L/mg) 0.665 RL R2 A B 0.980 0.989 0.16 0.008 R2 0.960 R2 4. BET 0.979 2 Surface Area (m /g) Pore size (nm) http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp 1552 164.2008 m²/g 44.688 Å editor@iaeme.com Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Water Remediation in Agriculture 3.7. Kinetic Study Comparison of the kinetic models using the linear regression coefficient (R2) values in the Table 4 shows that pseudo-second order model best describes the adsorption process (R2=0.603) and confirmed chemisorptions. Table 4: Adsorption Kinetics for Adsorbent ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai S.No. 1. 2. Adsorption Kinetics Pseudo first order equation Pseudo second order equation Adsorbent ZnO-NPs-AS -Ai 0.452 0.603 3.8. Phytochemical Analysis Phytoconstituent Responsible for Crystallinity, Size, Morphology and Elemental Composition of ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai were summarized in Table 5. Table 5: Phytoconstituent Responsible for Crystallinity, Size, Morphology and Elemental Composition of ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai Plant Species and Plant parts Botanical and Common Name Stabilizing Phytoconstituents Crystal size and Morphology Acalypha indica and Kuppaimalli Inter molecular hydrogen bonding 3400-3300 cm-1, Aromatic CH2 894 cm-1, Aromatic ring stretch1002 cm-1, Aromatic azide1334 cm-1, Secondary amine 2357 cm-1, Olefinic compound 1600-1450 cm-1, ZnO NPs 500-400 cm-1. 80 nm and Nano cubes leaves Elemental Composition Isotherm and Adsorption Kinetics and Adsorption Maximum removal of As(III) Zinc and Oxygen Langmuir isotherm and Monolayer homogeneous adsorption Pseudo second order and Chemisorption 96.19% 4. CONCLUSION Exploit of aqueous leaf extracts of Acalypha indica in the synthesis of zinc oxide nano particle embedded in activated silica is novel leading to fairly green chemistry, which provide progression over chemical method as it is cost effective and environment friendly and easily scaled up for large scale synthesis. The aqueous leaf extracts acts as a complexing template which prevents the particles from aggregating due to its physicochemical properties. The experimental results show the significant removal of arsenic ions upto 96.19%. The key phytochemical responsible for the synthesis of ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai are secondary amines and olefins. In continuation of the efforts an undemanding monolayer chemical adsorption for the removal of As(III) ions fabricated helps to improve the detoriation of agricultural land contaminated with arsenic (III). Bioremediation of arsenic contaminated agricultural land could be achieved fairly by using ZnO-NPs-AS-Ai to prevent biological accumulation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to Karunya University, Coimbatore and PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul for provision of laboratory facilities which intensified the triumph of this study. http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/index.asp 1553 editor@iaeme.com D. Gnanasangeetha and V. Prathipa REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] S.J. Yang, R. Park Ch, Microwave-assisted additive free synthesis of nanocrystalline zinc oxide, Nanotechnology, 19, 2008, 035609. P. Raveendran, J. Fu, S.L. Wallen, Completely green synthesis and stabilization of metal nanoparticles, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 125, 2003, 13940-13941. S.P. Chandran, M. Chaudhary, R. Pasricha, A. Ahmad, M. Sastry, Synthesis of gold nanotriangles and silver nanoparticles using Aloe vera plant extract. Biotechnology Progress, 2006, 22, 577-583. J.L. Gardea Torresdey, E. Gomez, J.R. Peralta Videa, J.G. Parsons, H. Troiani, M. 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