Biogenic synthesis of non-toxic Iron oxide NPs via Syzygium aromaticum for the removal of methylene blue

Abstract The discipline of nanotechnology plays an incredible role in environmental remediation. The synthesis of non-toxic, eco-friendly and safe nanomaterials is the current focus of research. The present work portrays a non-toxic and simple method for preparing iron oxide (Fe2O3) NPs by employing the bud extract of Syzygium aromaticum (clove). The synthesized Fe2O3 NPs were characterized by different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The toxicological studies were performed using bioassays which revealed its non-toxic behavior towards gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus), gram negative (Pseudomonas aureginosa) bacterial strains and black gram seeds. The calcined counterpart i.e. c-Fe2O3 was also prepared via cacination of as synthesized NPs at 700 °C. To inquire the effect of plant extract on the adsorption performance, both Fe2O3 NPs and c-Fe2O3 NPs were examined for their use in the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution. The biosynthesized Fe2O3 NPs showed better removal percentage (92 %) as compared to c-Fe2O3 (88 %) towards MB.