Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dye Using Xylan Reduced Copper Nanoparticles in Industrial Wastewater

ABSTRACT This research work focused to investigate the green and biocompatible synthesis of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) using the water‐soluble polymer, xylan. The prepared CuNPs is characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy showed an absorption peak at 569 nm and TEM studies confirmed that the formed CuNPs are spherical shape with an average diameter of 27 nm. The negative zeta potential value of −12.2 mV proved that the nanoparticles are surrounded by the enormous amount of hydroxyl group of xylan moiety. Here, xylan plays dual role as reducer and stabilizer also a biocompatible and biodegradable alternative to various toxic reactants. The photocatalytic property of the nanoparticles is studied by their cationic and anionic methyl orange and methylene blue dye degradation. The result of the present study reveals that the reaction kinetics follows pseudo‐first‐order with rate constants of 0.0173 min − 1 ( R 2 = 0.942) and 0.0185 min − 1 ( R 2 = 0.987), respectively, for MO and MB. Hence, the xylan‐stabilized CuNPs can be effectively used as a green photocatalyst for efficient removal of the organic dyes.