Efficient One-Pot Green Synthesis of Chitosan-Copper Bionanoparticles Via Sustainable Hydrothermal Carbonization Route for Photocatalysis and Fenton Studies

Abstract

A bionanoparticle was fabricated using a facile one-pot green synthesis assisted through Hydrothermal Carbonization and evaluated for its potential as a catalyst in Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for wastewater treatment. Bio-wastes like onion peel, corn husk and groundnut shell has been employed for green synthesis of Copper-Chitosan bionanoparticles which were characterised for their optical, physical and structural properties with the available technologies to study their composition. The onion peel extract undergone Carbonization along with Chitosan during the Hydrothermal Carbonization process, has augmented the bionanoparticle to function as a visible light active photocatalyst. The synthesized materials were utilized for the degradation of dye and drug using the AOP like Photocatalysis, Fenton-like and Photo-Fenton process. The onion peel extracts aided bionanoparticles excelled in degrading Methylene Blue dye under 15 W LED, achieving 95.9% efficiency in 120 min. Additionally, it functioned as a Fenton-like catalyst, degrading Methylene Blue dye in 60 min with 96.2% efficiency, and as a Photo-Fenton catalyst, achieving 98.1% efficiency in 25 min. Since the catalyst had higher efficiency in short time for Photo-Fenton degradation, it has been optimized by adjusting parameters such as concentration of catalyst and dye, as well for varied pH levels. The catalyst achieved 90.7% efficiency during its fifth stability cycle study. For Rifampicin drug degradation, the observed efficiency was 97.1% in 70 min. This work provides a green way of synthesizing bionanoparticles and its utilization towards the waste water treatment towards degrading the emerging pollutants. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.