Eco-friendly Approach: Synthesis of Novel Green TiO2 Nanoparticles for Degradation of Reactive Green 19 Dye and Replacement of Chemical Synthesized TiO2

In the present research work, a novel and green TiO2 as an excellent photocatalyst has been synthesized and a comparative study of its structural, morphological and optical properties has been carried out with that of chemical synthesized. Green TiO2 has been synthesized using Titanium(IV)-iso-propoxide as a precursor and Lagenaria siceraria leaf extract has been used as a reducing and capping agent. Photocatalytic activity results indicate that TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by green method exhibit excellent percentage removal (98.88%) of RG-19 dye in acidic medium as compared to chemical synthesized TiO2 sample which exhibits only 88.55% removal of dye. Higher apparent rate constant (0.02802 min−1) of photocatalytic reaction for green synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles as compared to that of chemical synthesized with apparent rate constant (0.0154 min−1), leads to the lower incubation time i.e., 60 min for green synthesized and 120 min for chemical synthesized. TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized via green synthesis offer high and fast removal of RG-19 dye as compared to chemical route. This study explores the green chemistry based TiO2 as an efficient photocatalyst with outstanding photocatalytic performance, which may open a new perspective for the preparation of excellent photocatalyst with cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to chemical and physical methods.