Photocatalytic degradation of atrazine and abamectin using Chenopodium album leaves extract mediated copper oxide nanoparticles

The study focusses on the ecofriendly synthesis of copper oxide nano-particles (CuO NPs) using aqueous extract of Chenopodium album leaves. The pre-pared NPs were characterized using techniques such as Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). UV-Vis spectroscopy exhibited absorption maximum (lambda(max)) at 271 nm for CuO NPs. The average size of crystallite was observed as 17 +/- 3 nm using XRD. SEM illustrated that the shape of fabricated NPs was spherical. Elemental composition was further supported by EDX. The photo-catalytic nature of prepared NPs was assessed by degradation of atrazine and aba-mectin. Maximum degradation 53.61 % and 57 % of abamectin and atrazine was observed in presence of these particles after the 180 min exposure time. The pesti-cides removal followed the zero-order kinetics. It may be concluded that CuO NPs synthesized from C. album could behave as suitable candidate for the degradation of toxic pollutants in wastewater.