Comparative Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes Using Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized from Padina tetrastromatica

Background: Seaweeds, being abundant sources of active components have attained much interest in recent times. The seaweeds are routinely used in life science research and are well known for their biological applications. In addition to that, the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles from these natural resources has its own attraction in drug delivery and was observed by using 2 mL of Ag NP colloids. Objective: In this study, the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using Padina tetrastromatica has been evaluated for their catalytic activity in the degradation of organic dye. Method: The catalytic activity of the biosynthesized Ag NP colloid was studied for the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) and Acridine orange (AO) dye. The degradation of methylene blue and acridine orange was observed at regular time interval by using UV-vis absorption spectra at 664 nm and 490 nm respectively. Results: The percentage of dye degradation increased in the presence of NaBH4. It was observed that 80.09% of MB dye reduction was observed by using 2 mL of Ag NP colloids. The acridine orange dye showed reduction of 83.06%. The rate constants for the reduction of Methylene blue (MB) and acridine orange (AO) dye using 2 mL Ag NPs colloids are 0.077 and 0.090 min(-1), respectively.