Korean J. Chem. Eng.

, 37(2), 274-289 (2020) pISSN: 0256-1115

DOI: 10.1007/s11814-019-0435-3 eISSN: 1975-7220
INVITED REVIEW PAPER INVITED REVIEW PAPER

Bio-extract assisted in-situ green synthesis of Ag-RGO nanocomposite film

for enhanced naproxen removal
Somen Mondal†, Surabhi Patel, and Subrata Kumar Majumder†

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
(Received 2 October 2019 • accepted 19 November 2019)

AbstractThe present study reports in-situ green synthesis of Ag-RGO nanocomposite film using turnip leaves-
extract as a reducing as well as a capping agent and its application as a highly efficient naproxen adsorbent from a con-
taminated aqueous solution. The nanocomposite was characterized employing XRD, Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy,
FETEM and FESEM microscopy, EDS spectroscopy. The pseudo-second-order and Elovich kinetic model furnished
the best correlation of the experimental data, specifying the adsorption as the rate-limiting step for naproxen (NPX)
removal by Ag-RGO composite film. The Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms represented the experi-
mental adsorption data satisfactorily, suggesting a multilayered chemical adsorption process on the heterogeneous
adsorbent surfaces. The process parameters were optimized to get the maximum adsorption capacity, which was obtained
as 229.25 mg g 1 (92.62%). The parametric effects of pHs and NPX concentrations were tested within a range of 2.50-
8.50 and 25-100 mg dm 3, respectively, for the contact time of 0.33-3 min at a constant temperature (298 K) and adsor-
bent dose (20.2 mg). The feasibility of the regeneration of the materials after adsorption is based on the experimental
results. The experimentally optimized process parameters were validated using response surface methodology (RSM).
Keywords: Ag-RGO Nanocomposite, Green Synthesis, Naproxen Removal, Adsorption Kinetics and Isotherms, Pro-
cess Optimization

INTRODUCTION
Naproxen (C14H14O3, NPX), is a widespread, non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drug, widely prescribed for pain relief such as mus-
cle aches, headache, dental pain, tendonitis, and menstrual cramps.
After intake, drugs are absorbed and take part in metabolic reac-
tions. The organisms leave the unmetabolized substances compris-
ing these drugs via urine or sludge into the sewage water. Moreover,
the main sources of these drug contaminations are the inefficient
effluent of the pharmaceutical industries, the improper ejection of
unused or expired drugs in hospitals, which are increasing water
contamination day by day due to their stability. Naproxen may affect
water quality adversely. Human life and ecosystem can be directly
influenced by the long-term intake of contaminated aquatic food
like fish and potable water [1,2]. It may affect the regulation and
functioning of the organisms present in the ecosystems by influenc-
ing the activity of enzymes as it is a biologically active substance
[3]. The reported range of their existence in the environment is
0.1-2.6 g dm3 in treated wastewater and 0.01-0.1 g dm3 in sur-
face waters [1,7,15]. Researchers have employed various removal
methods for the separation or degradation of NPX from contami-
nated water. Coagulation-flocculation, sedimentation, ultrasonic-
degradation processes are not effective enough [4]. Other import-
ant processes are photo-degradation [5], bio-degradation [3,6] and
advanced oxidation processes such as chlorination [7], UV/H2O2
†
To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: skmaju@iitg.ac.in, somen.mondal@iitg.ac.in
Copyright by The Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers.
[8,9], ozone (O3) [10,11] and their combinations or others. Advanced
oxidation processes may produce 1-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl) etha-
nol, 1-(6-methoxynaphthalen-2-yl) ethanone, 2-ethyl-6-methoxy-
naphthalene, 1-(6-methoxynaphthalen-2-yl) ethyl-hydroxy-perox-
ide as the byproducts in the reaction medium [5]. Although the
advanced oxidation processes are highly effective to remove or de-
grade naproxen from the aqueous medium, they may create envi-
ronmental toxicity due to the production of highly toxic interme-
diates than the parent compound [12]. However, the adsorption
process is quite effective and mostly used for the removal of naproxen
without the formation of any harmful byproducts. Activated carbon
[2,13], activated carbon nanocomposite [14], activated sludge [15],
micelle-clay complex [16], nanoparticles decorated onto graphene
oxide [17] are used as adsorbents extensively.
In recent years, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has been attracted
great attention for its good electrical, thermal, mechanical, and opti-
cal properties. Moreover, RGO and its nanocomposites are broadly
used as excellent adsorbents and applied in water purification pro-
cesses. Adsorption being a surface phenomenon not only depends
on the surface area and micropores present, but it also on the sur-
face characteristics of the adsorbing materials. The 2D planes of
RGO film with the attachment of fewer amounts of functional groups
provide high surface area and bonding sites susceptible to adsorp-
tion. The delocalized -electrons present in RGO film have strong
binding efficiency towards the harmful pollutants, which makes it
a rapid adsorbent for the removal of pollutants [18]. Otherwise,
nanoparticles have efficient disinfectant or degradation or complex
formation ability depending on the surface charge under optimized
pH condition. Hence, the nanoparticle decorated RGO film may

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