Facile one-pot phytosynthesis of magnetic nanoparticles using potato extract and their catalytic activity

In the current study, a novel green chemistry recipe is presented for elite phytosynthesis of magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs), using homemade starch-rich potato extract in water as the reaction medium. In this approach, starch-rich potato extract operates as the reducing agent and a stabilizing layer on newly fabricated Fe3O4 NPs. Furthermore, the crystal structure, morphology, durability, chemical composition, purity, and magnetite properties of Fe3O4 NPs are scrutinized, using XRD, TEM, TGA, FTIR, SEM/EDX, and VSM, respectively. The presence of potato extract functional groups on the surface of the magnetite NPs is confirmed via TGA and FTIR analyses. XRD and TEM probes reveal that the magnetite NPs are face centered cubic (FCC) in a shape with the size of which is about 40 +/- 2.2nm. EDX results demonstrate that the sample contains mainly iron oxide NPs. In addition, VSM measurement confirmed that the powder is superparamagnetic, showing the saturation magnetization value of 28.78emu/g. UV-Vis color intensity of increased productivity of NPs was shown at 375nm. Fe3O4 NPs also exhibits fine catalytic activity for the removal of an organic methylene blue contaminant in waste water at room temperature. Finally, a possible mechanism of the as-synthesized magnetite NPs is discussed.