Saw dust was used as substrate for xylanase production from Arthrobacter sp. MTCC 6915. The study of period of incubation, temperature, pH, carbon, and nitrogen sources for xylanase production was optimized. Xylanase production was found to be optimum at an incubation period of 96 hrs (117.0 U/mL), temperature 30°C (105.0 U/mL), and pH 9.0 (102.9 U/mL). The results showed that the xylanase production was found to be higher in the presence of carboxymethylcellulose (176.4 U/mL) and dextrose (126.0 U/mL). It was also observed that peptone (170.1 U/mL) and beef extract (161.7 U/mL) supported maximum xylanase production.The enzyme was characterized and found to be fairly active at pH 9 (764.4 U/mL) and temperature 60°C (819 U/mL). Even in the present study, a major difference in the production temperature (30°C) and optimal temperature (60°C) of the enzyme activity was observed. However, the pH of the production media and the enzyme activity were found to be the same (pH 9).

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Novel silver encapsulated nanocomposite zinc oxide/iron tetra-poly-vanadate (Ag-ZnO/Fe2V4O13) was synthesized with various wt% of silver (1.0–2.5 wt% of Ag) by cost-effective photo-deposition method under the irradiation of ultraviolet-A (UV-A) light. The nanostructure of the Ag-ZnO/Fe2V4O13 was explored by various characterization techniques. The surface functionalities were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra and the crystalline nature of the material was revealed by X-ray diffraction patterns. Furthermore, the surface morphology and the optical properties of the composites were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray–elemental color mapping (ECM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and photoluminescence. The crystallite size of Ag-ZnO/Fe2V4O13 was 28.5 nm which was consistent with HRTEM analysis. The photocatalytic activity was tested against aqueous methyl orange degradation under UV-A light irradiation. In all five runs, the stability of the catalyst was confirmed by reusability measurements and almost 98% of degradation was achieved. A suitable degradation pathway was proposed based on intermediates obtained during the degradation analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Trapping experiments confirmed that the superoxide radical anion (O2•−) was considered as the most active species for this degradation process. Complete mineralization was confirmed by the measurements of chemical oxygen demand.

In this study, we utilized calcination and simple impregnation methods to successfully fabricate bare g-C3N4 (GCN) and x% Ag/g-C3N4 (x% AgGCN) composite photocatalysts with various weight percentages (x = 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt.%). The synthesized bare and composite photocatalysts were analyzed to illustrate their phase formation, functional group, morphology, and optical properties utilizing XRD, FT-IR, UV-Vis DRS, PL, FE-SEM, and the EDS. The photodegradation rate of MO under solar light irradiation was measured, and the 5% AgGCN composite photocatalyst showed higher photocatalytic activity (99%), which is very high compared to other bare and composite photocatalysts. The MO dye degradation rate constant with the 5% AgGCN photocatalyst exhibits 14.83 times better photocatalytic activity compared to the bare GCN catalyst. This photocatalyst showed good efficiency in the degradation of MO dye and demonstrated cycling stability even in the 5th successive photocatalytic reaction cycle. The higher photocatalytic activity of the 5% AgGCN composite catalyst for the degradation of MO dye is due to the interaction of Ag with GCN and the localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag. The scavenger study results indicate that O2●− radicals play a major role in MO dye degradation. A possible charge-transfer mechanism is proposed to explain the solar-light-driven photocatalyst of GCN.