Eco‐Friendly Synthesis of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles via Foeniculum vulgare Extract for Adsorptive Remediation of Doxycycline
Tamanna Wadhawan, Shweta Wadhawan, Ayushi Jain, S.K. MehtaABSTRACT
This study addresses the emerging ecological and public health challenge of antibiotic contamination in aquatic systems by synthesizing CuO nanoparticles (NPs) through a sustainable green chemistry approach using fennel ( Foeniculum vulgare ) extract. Fennel extract acts as a reducing and stabilizing agent for NPs due to the presence of bioactive metabolites in it. The synthesized CuO NPs were characterized by various spectroscopic techniques, followed by systematic evaluation of adsorptive removal of doxycycline (DX). The synthesized nanoadsorbent showed maximum removal of about 92% DX from its 65 mg L −1 solution in the time span of an hour only. The adsorption process involves surface sorption as well as intraparticle diffusion. The R 2 value of the Freundlich isotherm is greater than that of the Langmuir isotherm, depicting the adsorption of DX on the heterogeneous surface of CuO NPs. The adsorption mechanism involved electrostatic and other interfacial interactions such as hydrogen bonding and n‐π* interactions between CuO NPs and DX. Further, these CuO NPs showed excellent reusability with a removal efficiency of ̴ 85% even in the fifth adsorption cycle. These green‐synthesized CuO NPs also demonstrated effective treatment of multicomponent simulated wastewater shown by ̴ 93% decrease in the monitored absorbance signal.