Green synthesis of Illicium verum-derived novel semiconducting Ag/Fe/Cu-trimetallic nanocomposites: A dual-functional platform for selective detection of pharmaceutical compounds and light-independent degradation of organic dyes
Abstract
In the present work, phytochemicals derived from the extract of Illicium verum fruit have been used for the first time as capping, stabilizing and reducing agents to synthesize pH and thermally stable silver-, iron- and copper-based trimetallic nanocomposites (Ag/Fe/Cu-TNAs). Characterization was carried out by multiple spectroscopic and imaging techniques. Nanocomposites were found to be spherical in shape with an average size of 60 nm by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The presence of all three metals was evident from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analysis (EDS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed a crystallite size of 17.83 nm. Shifts in the peaks of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra and the appearance of a broad peak between 250 and 400 nm in the UV-visible spectrum also provided convincing evidence for the formation of nanocomposites. An optical band gap of 3.8 eV indicated the semiconducting nature of the nanocomposites. This research represents the first demonstration of trimetallic nanocomposites as green and cost-effective nanosensors for the detection of an important pharmaceutical residue, levocetirizine. Levofloxacin was also detected effectively at a lower concentration. The limit of detection values for levofloxacin and levocetirizine were found to be 4.43 µM and 5.49 µM, respectively. The stoichiometric ratio and binding constant values for levofloxacin (2 : 3, 1.139 × 104 M-1) and levocetirizine (1 : 4,…
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