Instant and efficient greenly silver nanoparticles for remediating atrazine and methylene blue from contaminated water

In an attempt to create economically feasible and sustainable wastewater treatment “green” techniques, Malva parviflora leaf water extract was used for biosynthesizing silver nanoparticles (Malva-AgNPs). Fourier transform infrared, ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis), scanning electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) were used for the characterization of Malva-AgNPs. UV–Vis and DLS analysis revealed the stability of the Malva-AgNPs at a wavelength of 420 nm and an average size of 100 nm ± 1 nm. A zeta potential of − 26.4 mV provides additional support for the stability of the material. The removal studies were conducted using atrazine and methylene blue (MB) in a single or mixed liquid state. The adsorbent dose, pH, incubation time, and pollutant concentration in the adsorption process were investigated. The optimal removal for 500 mg L⁻¹ of atrazine and MB at the adsorbent dosage of 450 mg, when incubated for 5 min, was found to be 99.5% and 82.03% for atrazine and MB, respectively. Also, Malva-AgNPs eliminated more than 95% and 50% of the atrazine and MB mixture, respectively, in 5 min. The kinetics study showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetics model was a better fit for explaining the experimental adsorption experiments for atrazine and MB. The obtained equilibrium adsorption data were examined using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, which indicate that atrazine and MB have maximum adsorption capacities of 434.78 mg g⁻¹ and 400 mg g⁻¹, respectively.

Graphical Abstract