Harnessing green chemistry for waste water remediation through Alpinia leaves silver nanoparticles

<p>Addressing environmental concerns with sustainable nanomaterial is a vital step towards innovative and eco-friendly techniques that address important global issues like pollution, water contamination, and resource depletion. This eco-friendly approach offers a sustainable alternative to conventional methods and this study aims to showcase the applications of biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized using green synthesis techniques with aqueous leaf extracts from five <em>Alpinia</em> varieties; <em>Alpinia purpurata</em>, <em>Alpinia caerulea</em>, <em>Alpinia zerumbet </em><em>‘</em>variegata<em>’</em>, <em>Alpinia calcurata </em>and <em>Alpinia zerumbet.</em> The AgNPs were synthesized using water extracts (WE) and silver nitrate at the optimum conditions. Characterization of AgNPs using UV-Vis spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confirmed their successful formation and morphology. Spherical <em>A.zerumbet</em>_AgNPs between 28–68 nm in size were observed. The photocatalytic activity was tested by degrading methyl Orange (MO) dye under solar irradiation and the use NaBH<sub>4</sub> with AgNPs significantly increased the degradation of MO. P-nitrophenol catalysis using AgNP and NaBH<sub>4 </sub>resulted promising results. Cytotoxicity of AgNPs using <em>Artemia salina</em> was evaluated and 100% viability was seen. The antibacterial activity was conducted using <em>Escherichia coli</em> and <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em>, unlike the WEs, all AgNPs showed antibacterial activity. This study revealed that the AgNPs synthesized using <em>Alpinia</em> leaves has diverse functional properties, presenting a promising avenue for future research and practical applications in environmental pollution.<em></em></p>