Silver nanoparticles: synthesis and application in mineralization of pesticides using membrane support

Pesticides are deliberately used for controlling the pests in agriculture and public health, due to which, a part of it is present in the drinking water. Due to their widespread use, they are present in both surface and ground water. Most of the pesticides are resistant to biodegradation and are found to be carcinogenic in nature even at trace levels. Conventional methods of pesticide removal are disadvantageous due to their inherent time consumption or expensiveness. Nanoparticles alleviate both of these drawbacks and hence, they can be effectively utilized for the mineralization of pesticides. To prevent the presence of nanoparticles in the purified water after mineralization of pesticides, they need to be incorporated on a support. In earlier studies, researchers employed activated carbon and alumina as support for silver nanoparticles in pesticide mineralization. However, not many studies have been carried out on polymeric membranes as support for silver nanoparticles in the mineralization of pesticides (chlorpyrifos and malathion). With this in view, a detailed study has been carried out to estimate the mineralization potential of silver nanoparticles (synthesized using glucose) supported on cellulose acetate membrane. It is observed that the silver nanoparticles can effectively mineralize the pesticides, and the concentration of nanoparticles enhances the rate of mineralization.