Biogenic synthesis of Cu nanoparticles and its degradation behavior for methyl red

This article depicts the biogenic synthesis of copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) using the peel extracts of Citrus grandis. No external reducing and stabilizing agent were utilized in the developed method. The peel extract of C grandis acts as reducing and stabilizing agent in the synthesis of Cu NPs. The synthesized Cu NPs were characterized using UV-vis, FT-IR, XRD and TEM. The UV-vis spectra furnished absorption bands at 590 nm, while both the XRD and TEM provided evidences for the fcc structure of the synthesized Cu NPs. The TEM images revealed the spherical nature of the prepared Cu NPs with diameter of 22-27 nm. The XRD data showed that the average crystallite size was 18 nm. The photocatalytic efficiency of the synthesized Cu NPs for the degradation of methyl red dye is also presented. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.