Date pits extracts assisted synthesis of magnesium oxides nanoparticles and its application towards the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue
J. Sackey, A.K.H. Bashir, Alechine E. Ameh, M. Nkosi, Chikumbusko Chiziwa Kaonga, M. Maaza
Abstract
In the present work, a novel bio-synthesis of highly crystalline cubic MgO nanoparticles from aqueous extracts obtained from date pits is reported. The synthesised cubic MgO nanoparticles were annealed at 500 and 700 °C for 2 h in air. Characterization of the samples was carried out using various characterization techniques. To show the photocatalytic effectiveness of date pits mediated MgO nanoparticles, degradation ability with Methylene blue (MB) under visible irradiation was evaluated. HRTEM analysis of the samples reveals a spherical-like structure of the nanoparticles while selected area electron diffraction and XRD patterns showed that the annealed nanoparticles are crystalline. The photocatalysis efficiency showed 64 and 52% degradation ability for MB of MgO nanoparticles annealed at 500 and 700 °C, respectively.