Effective and reproducible biosynthesis of nanogold-composite catalyst for paracetamol oxidation

Abstract

Pharmaceutical products are some of the most serious emergent pollutants in the environment, especially nowadays of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, nanogold-composite was prepared, and its catalytic activity for paracetamol degradation was investigated. Moreover, for the first time, recycled waste diatomite earth (WDE) from beer filtration was used for reproducible gold nanoparticle (Au NPs) preparation. We studied Au NPs by various psychical-chemical and analytical methods. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy were used for nanogold-composite morphology, size and shape characterization. Total element concentrations were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. X-ray powder diffraction analysis was used for crystal structure characterization of samples. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer was used to study the chemical changes before and after Au NP formation. The results revealed that the WDE served as both a reducing and a stabilizing agent for crystalline spherical 30 nm Au NPs as well as acting as a direct support matrix. The kinetics of paracetamol degradation was studied by high-performance liquid chromatography with a photodiode array detector. The conversion of paracetamol was 62% and 67% after 72 h in the absence or presence of light irradiation, respectively, with 0.0126 h −1 and 0.0148 h −1 reaction rate constants. The presented study demonstrates the successful use of waste material from the food industry for nanogold-composite preparation and its application as a promising catalyst in paracetamol removal. Graphical abstract Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-21868-6.

Agronomic Investigation of Spray Dispersion of Metal-Based Nanoparticles on Sunflowers in Real-World Environments

“…This was partially unexpected because gold and silica are not typical plant nutrients [87], but their photocatalytic performance may be responsible for the encouraging physiology observed. These results are consistent with previous studies showing the photocatalytic properties of NPs in resistant nerve agent removal [40] and paracetamol degradation [88].…”