Green Synthesis of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Using Spinacia oleracea Leaf for Wastewater Treatment: Effect Of pH and Concentration

Nanotechnology is defined as the manipulation and control of matter at the nanoscale using scientific knowledge from various industrial and biomedical applications. The nanoparticle generally refers to the individual molecules that make up the bulk of the nanomaterial. Nanoparticles are particles with a size of one to 100 nanometers (nm) and made up of three layers since they are complex molecules. This study was carried out to prepare Copper Oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) using the green synthesis method which is an environmentally friendly technique without using hazardous chemicals. Hazardous chemical substances lead to pollution of water which causes environmental contamination, so we used CuO NPs that were synthesized by using green method to purify the wastewater containing lead ion. Hence, the extracts of Spinacia oleracea were used as reducing agent. The synthesized CuO NPs nanoparticles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX), Ultraviolet–Visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). The two parameters of experiments, the metal ion concentration and pH were studied for the removal of Pb (II) from wastewater using the CuO NPs as nanosorbent. The synthesizing of CuO NPs was successful, the color change of the mixture of copper sulphate and spinach extract from light green to dark green indicates the succession of the synthesizing CuO NPs. The EDX and UV-Vis spectroscopy also indicated the succession of synthesizing of CuO NPs. The optimum removal efficiency of Pb (II) was found 78% and 85% for pH 7.01 and concentration of 0.002M, respectively. These factors showed that CuO NPs are good nanosorbents to purify wastewater contaminated with lead ions.