A bio-based strategy for efficient industrial wastewater treatment using TiO2 photocatalysis

This study presents a novel and environmentally friendly approach for synthesizing titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) by using Syzygium aromaticum (SA) (also known as clove) bud extract. These NPs are created by using the inherent potency of plant compounds found in cloves via an innovative method. This method not only encourages the environmentally friendly synthesis of TiO2 NPs, but it also imparts them with distinctive characteristics. The study utilizes a comprehensive range of sophisticated spectroscopic and physicochemical methods, such as UV-vis spectroscopy, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, EDX spectroscopy, FTIR, and XRD analysis, to accurately determine the distinctive characteristics of SA/TiO2 NPs. Ultrafine crystalline size (2.11 nm) and desired anatase phase structure was confirmed by XRD analysis. Successful attachment of functional groups from clove extract onto the TiO2 surface was observed via FTIR. Tuned light absorption properties with a peak at 290 nm and a precisely adjusted band gap energy (3.15 eV) was observed via UV-vis spectroscopy. This study shows that TiO2 NPs functionalized with SA bud extract have a significantly higher ability to degrade Brilliant Yellow dye (BY-18) compared to other photocatalysts. Their efficacy is demonstrated by achieving a notable 93.6% elimination of commercially accessible BY-18 dye (100 mg/L) within 60 min at a comparatively low SA-TiO2 dosage of 200 mg/L. The remarkable accomplishment is reinforced by the prevalence of pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics, which accurately characterizes the photodegradation process. This work highlights the potential of utilizing natural resources for advanced and highly effective NPs synthesis with enhanced functionalities for photocatalysis applications. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.