Decolorization of indigo carmine dye using silver nanoparticles synthesized via green method mediated by Leucaena leucocephala: A response surface methodology.

This study aims to synthesize and characterize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Leucaena leucocephala leaf extract and evaluate their effectiveness in photo-catalytically degrading indigo carmine (IC) dye in an aqueous solution. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized using UV-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) was employed to optimize the conditions for the photocatalytic degradation of IC dye under solar light. The results show that 97.52% of the maximum photodegradation of IC dye was achieved using a dye concentration, catalyst volume, and reaction time of 19.7 mgL^-1, 4.47 mL, and 97 min, respectively. RSM results revealed optimal conditions for IC dye degradation under solar irradiation. Moreover, the kinetics study of IC dye showed a good correlation with the pseudo-first order kinetic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]