Iron Nanoparticles α-Chitin Nanocomposite for Enhanced Antimicrobial, Dyes Degradation and Heavy Metals Removal Activities

The synthesis of metal nanoparticles has become a matter of great interest in recent years for overcoming various challenges such as infectious diseases and environmental pollutants. In the present study, a green synthesis of iron nanoparticles (FeNP) was performed using aqueous leaf extract of Corchorus olitorius as a reducing and capping agent. Chitin nanoparticles (CNP) were prepared from shells of Penaeus semisulcatus and used for the preparation of iron/chitin nanocomposite. The structure and properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, EDX, XRD and FTIR analyses and then evaluated for their antimicrobial, dyes degradation and heavy metals adsorption activities. FeNP/CNP nanocomposite showed enhanced antimicrobial activity as compared to that of FeNP and CNP alone. A great degradation had been confirmed upon treatment of dyes with FeNP/CNP nanocomposite. It reached 95% for methyl orange at 150 min. Furthermore, the removal efficiency of heavy metals increased with increasing adsorbents concentrations. FeNP/CNP nanocomposite exhibited higher heavy metals removal efficiency than FeNP and in a shorter time. It caused removal percentages of 98.9, 94.2 and 90.3% for Cr3+, Cd2+ and Ni2+, respectively at 30 min. The results confirmed that incorporation of FeNP into CNP improves the properties of FeNP and can be used as a promising strategy to be used as biocompatible antimicrobial and bioremediation agents. [GRAPHICS] .