Robust green synthetic approach for the production of iron oxide nanorods and its potential environmental and cytotoxicity applications

Abstract

A facile and eco-friendly green method has been developed for the synthesis of hematite nanorod-like architecture (G-Fe2O3 NRs) using the resin obtained from the stem of the banana flower (Musa Paradisiaca Linn). In this green hydrothermal synthesis, the resin played dual roles as oxygen source and as structure directing stabilizing agents, which followed the facile one-step process, and it is suitable for scaling up to large-scale synthesis. Various techniques were used to investigate the physicochemical properties such as structural, morphological, surface area, thermal, magnetic, band gap and lifetime properties of the green synthesised G-Fe2O3 NRs. Investigations of G-Fe2O3 NRs by electron microscopes showed the average length and girth of the NRs were ranging from 528 ± 173 nm and 72 ± 21 nm. Significant impact on the physicochemical properties by this green synthetic approach yielded concrete results in their catalytic activities overcoming major environmental concerns. Especially, our green catalyst showed better redox kinetics with the lesser over potential than the commercially available bulk counterparts upon evaluating the photoelectrochemical water splitting ability such as oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Moreover, the photocatalytic efficiency of G-Fe2O3 NRs was evaluated by solar induced photoreduction of dichromate [toxic hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) to sustainable harmless trivalent chromium Cr(III)] and degradation of malachite green (MG). Both the processes involve the photocatalytic conversion by sequential adsorption of analytes on mineral surface and the overall efficiency was achieved mainly due to the high surface area (59.87 m2/g) of the catalyst. The cytotoxicity studies indicate that G-Fe2O3 NRs possesses much potential to work against A-549 (lung cancer) cell line.