Valorization of rambutan peel for the synthesis of silver-doped titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO2) nanoparticles

In this article, silver-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Ag/TiO2 NPs) were synthesized in an ecologically and economically favorable way using rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) peel extracts along with the study of its photocatalytic activity on methylene blue (MB) dye and antioxidant efficacy against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH center dot). A wide range of analytical techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis were performed to ascertain the synthesis of Ag/TiO2 NPs. The synthesized Ag/TiO2 NPs enhanced the photocatalytic degradation of MB (81.6%, k=0.002495 min(-1)) under direct solar light irradiation. The results showed that discarded agricultural waste as rambutan peel can be utilized as natural bioreductant in future materials science applications.