Enhanced Photocatalytic activity of bio mediated Ag@Cu2O NPs towards Fampridine: Kinetic modelling and mechanistic pathways

Abstract

To enhance the photocatalytic activity of Cu2O NPs, Tabernaemontana divaricate leaf extract was used to synthesise Ag@Cu2O NPs. UV-Vis, XPS, XRD, and HR-TEM were used to characterize Ag@Cu2O NPs. The mechanism of Ag+ binding onto Cu2O NPs showed that plant extract was fully saturated with flavonoids and can implant Ag on the Cu2O NPs. XPS spectra of Ag@Cu2O NPs showed a shift towards lower binding energy in Cu 2p peaks from 932 eV to 931 eV and 952 eV to 951 eV, which confirmed the formation of Ag@Cu2O NPs. HR-TEM investigation of Ag@Cu2O NPs indicated that the lattice distance was (d = 0.25 nm) which corresponds to the (111) plane of Ag, which demonstrated the fabrication of Ag@Cu2O NPs. The degradation efficiency of fampridine was enhanced to 95% with 97% COD removal and 75% TOC conversion after 210 min using Ag@Cu2O NPs as compared to Cu2O NPs. The MFOK model was well fitted for the TOC conversion of fampridine, with R2 = 0.99 in comparison to the FOK model. LC-MS spectra for the degradation of fampridine have shown ten intermediate fragments. Ag@Cu2O NPs that were synthesised effectively inhibited the bacterial pathogen.