SURFACE WATER TREATMENT POTENTIALS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES BIOSYNTHESIZED FROM Moringa oleifera SEED EXTRACT

Abstract

In recent times, treatment of water using biological methods has been reported, and among these biological methods is the use of plant extract. Plants are used because they are easily sourced, abundant in nature, affordable, and less toxic. This study was aimed to determine the potential treatment of surface water samples by silver nanoparticles biosynthesized from Moringa oleifera seed extract. The Moringa oleifera seed extract was obtained, analyzed phytochemically, and then used to synthesize silver nanoparticles using titrimetric method. The biosynthesized nanoparticle was characterized using Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X - ray Diffractometry (XRD) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The surface water samples (1 L) treated with 5 mg/ mL biosynthesized nanoparticle at different time intervals (30, 60 and 120 min) were analyzed before and after for their water physicochemical and bacterial properties. The results of the phytochemical analyses showed the presence of tannins and alkaloids. The UV-Vis revealed an absorbance of 2.00 at a peak wavelength of 400 nm. The FT-IR revealed that the vibrations were associated to several functional classes such as CH3-metal, haloboroxine, pyroline, diazonium, hydrogen-bonded and hydroxyl groups. The XRD showed the sample was crystalline in nature and consistent with face-centered cubic of silver(I) oxide (standard Ag2O (JCPDS 76‐1393). The SEM showed a highly magnified surface with a mixture of bright and dark regions, which is consistent with SEM image of silver nanoparticles. There were significant reductions (P < 0.05) in the PO4, NH3, SO4, turbidity, COD and BO5 fecal coliforms, total coliforms and Salmonella/ Shigella contents of the various surface water samples after 120 min treatment. Thus, the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles showed potentials for improving surface water resources quality.