Green synthesis of Silver-iron-zinc oxides nanocomposite via Embelia schimperia leaf extract for photo-degradation of antibiotic drug from pharmaceutical wastewater

Abstract

The co-precipitation approach is used in the current study to create an environmentally friendly Ag/Fe/ZnO nanocomposites utilizing an aqueous leaf extract of Embelia schimperia. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared, UV, X-ray, UV–vis, DLS, TGA, and SEM to determine its functional group, structure, bandgap energy, size distribution, a mass of loss, and energy gain or loss, and morphological structure, respectively. The bioactive components of Embelia schimperia, synthesized Ag/Fe/ZnO NCs and degradation of Amoxicillin via photocatalyst were assessed. The response surface methodology of central composite design (CCD) was used to examine and optimize the effects of three independent variables on the degradation of Amoxicillin under visible light. According to the experimental findings, the maximum photocatalytic degradation efficiency was achieved at green synthesized Ag/Fe/ZnO NCs dosage of 100 mg, a concentration of Amoxicillin of 30 mg/L and a radiation time of 180 min. Their findings show that Embelia schimperia extract-derived Ag/Fe/ZnO nanocomposites is a promising alternative for degradation of pharmaceuticals contamination of wastewater via photocatalytic under the given conditions.