Biogenic Fabrication of Au/Pd Bimetallic Quantum Dots from Mushroom Extract and their Application to Organic Dye Pollutant Reduction

Background: In recent years, admirable research is being conducted on phyto-organic moieties from diverse biological sources for use as green bimetallic catalysts in organic pollutant degradation has a modern green nanoscience and technology for the green bimetallic catalyst for organic pollutant degradation. Furthermore, due to the lack of abundance of monometallic source materials, the researcher dedicated their efforts, to produce ultra-small bimetallic nanomaterials owing to their high stability, synergetic effect on catalytic behavior. In this connection, our present investigation focuses on the utilization of biomolecules from mushrooms to fabricate green goldpalladium (Au/Pd) bimetallic quantum dots (QDs) for the degradation of an organic dye (methylene blue). Method: The approach can reduce the usage of harmful chemicals and environmentally harmless. Moreover, the ultra-small structures possess high catalytic behavior, which can be used for industrial and environmental processes such as pollutant oxidation in exhaust catalytic converters. The reduction and formation of bimetallic catalysts were investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The surface morphology and size of the QDs were analyzed from TEM images. The crystalline nature of the Au/Pd QDs was characterized by SAED and X-ray diffraction patterns. Result: FT-IR investigation revealed the interaction between the QDs and the surface-adsorbed (physiochemical) biomolecules responsible for the possible pathway of the reduction and stabilization of the QDs. Conclusion: The Au/Pd QDs synthesized by using biomimetic approach showed excellent catalytic properties and could be used in the degradation of the organic dye in the presence of NaBH4. Keywords: Mushroom extract, Au/Pd quantum dots, transmission electron microscopy, catalytic activity, methylene blue, organic dye pollutant reduction.