Syzygium aromaticum-mediated green synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles for efficient heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions

Abstract

The current study focused on the environmentally friendly synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) using ferric nitrate Fe(NO3)3 9H2O as a precursor and aqueous Syzygium aromaticum (clove) extract as a reducing agent. Several analytical methods, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis.) spectroscopy, were used to confirm the synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles. These procedures were carried out to learn more about the surface shape and chemical composition of the produced iron oxide nanoparticles. The mean size of iron nanoparticles was determined by TEM examination to be 4.7 nm. The characterization revealed that the primary component of iron nanoparticles was magnetite when the Syzygium aromaticum extract was utilized as a reducing agent for Fe3+. For application, synthesized material was used to remove the harmful Cr (VI) ions from an aqueous solution. The batch adsorption approach was utilized to maximize the effects of significant elements such as pH, adsorbent dose, treatment duration, and initial Cr (VI) ions concentration to achieve the highest removal of Cr (VI) ions. The experimental adsorption data were fitted using various isotherm and kinetic adsorption models. © 2024 Indian Chemical Society