Assessment of photocatalytic potentiality and determination of ecotoxicity (using plant model for better environmental applicability) of synthesized copper, copper oxide and copper-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

NPs synthesis, characterization and azo-dye degradationA facile cost effective wet chemical method of synthesis is proposed for Cu-NPs, CuO-NPs and Cu-doped ZnO-NPs. The nanomaterials are opto-physically characterized for nano standard quality. Cu-doped ZnO-NPs based catalytic system is found to possess most efficient photocatalytic activity in degradation of two organic azo-dyes namely methyl red (MR) and malachite green (MG) that are released as industrial effluents in eco-environment intercollegium. Two possible photocatalytic degradation pathways are proposed to understand the mechanism of interaction prevailing during the mineralization of MR and MG dyes. Such study provides insight for waste water management. The uniqueness of the present work is 1) possible routes of MG dye degradation by Cu-doped ZnO-NPs and subsequent intermediate by-products are novel and pioneered of its kind. 2) two new intermediate byproducts are identified suggesting prevalence of multiple MR degradation pathways by Cu-doped ZnO-NPs.Assessment of ecotoxicityFor assessment of residual NPs impact on environment, eco-toxicological assay is performed using plant system (Sesamum indicum L.) as model. The study encompasses seed germination, seedling morphology, quantification of endogenous H2O2 and MDA generation, estimation of DNA double strand break and analysis of cell cycle inhibition. Results highlight reduced ecotoxicity of Cu-doped ZnO-NPs compared to the other synthesized nanomaterials thereby suggesting better environmental applicability in waste water purification.

Interaction of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with Water: Implications for Catalytic Activity

“…In this study, we considered ZnO nanoparticles used as antimicrobial agents to fight plant diseases. , The ZnO nanoparticles were observed to be highly dispersed in HRTEM images. High magnification images demonstrate individual particles that are approximately spherical and whose average size is ∼2 nm or less (Figures a,b).…”

Effects of Fe3O4 Nanoparticle Stress on the Growth and Development of Rocket Eruca sativa

“…Previous studies displayed that the RAPD assay is effective in evaluating the preliminary toxic effects on plants [43]. Recently, a large number of studies on genotoxicity caused by NPs in crop plants have been widely reported [32,[44][45][46]. The appearance of new DNA bands (n = 6) could be described as mutations, whereas the absence of normal DNA bands (n = 2) is possibly characterized as DNA disintegration or rearrangements of genetic materials [7] caused by iron oxide NP oxidative stress-induced genotoxicity.…”

Nanoparticle (CdS) interaction with host (Sesamum indicumL.) – its localization, transportation, stress induction and genotoxicity

“…Such effect is the primary indication of toxicity in the cellular system. Engineered NPs are reported to exert both positive (Hojjat and Hojjat 2015) as well as negative (Lee et al 2010;Ma et al 2010;Kumbhakar et al 2016;Das et al 2017) effects on the said physiological attributes in higher plants. Negative effects of NPs on the physiological attributes are the consequences of NP-mediated up-regulating stress-responsive gene expression (Khodakovskaya et al 2009).…”