Biosynthesized iron nanoparticles in aqueous extracts of Eichhornia crassipes and its mechanism in the hexavalent chromium removal

Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth), a species of invasive weeds has caused serious ecological damage due to its extraordinary fertility and growth rate. However, it has not yet been exploited for use as a resource. This paper reported the synthesis and characterization of amorphous iron nanoparticles (Ec-Fe-NPs) from Fe(III) salts in aqueous extracts of Eichhornia crassipes. The nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, EDS, TEM, XPS, FTIR, DLS and the zeta potential methods. The characterization results confirmed the successful synthesis of amorphous iron nanoparticles with diameters of 20 ∼ 80 nm. Moreover, the nanoparticles were mainly composed of zero valent iron nanoparticles which were coated with various organic matters in the extracts as a capping or stabilizing agents. Batch experiments showed that 89.9% of Cr(VI) was removed by the Ec-Fe-NPs much higher than by the extracts alone (20.4%) and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (47.3%). Based on the kinetics study and the XPS analysis, a removal mechanism dominated by adsorption and reduction with subsequently co-precipitation was proposed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.