Isotherm and kinetic studies on nano-sorption of malachite green onto Aspergillus flavus mediated synthesis of silver nano particles

• Aspergillus flavus mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles.
• Enhanced synthesis of nanoparticles by green synthesis method using RSM.
• Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV, SEM and FTIR analysis.
• Decolorization of MG dye using synthesized silver nano particles.

Enhancement of silver nano particle production by microbial method has been carried out using response surface methodology (RSM). The parameters viz., temperature, concentration of A. flavus, silver nitrate concentration and pH were optimized to enhance the production of silver nano particle. The change of color during nanoparticle formations was analyzed using UV–vis spectrophotometer. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) Scanning Electron Microscope analysis (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis were carried out to study the morphology and presence of functional groups in the synthesized silver nanoparticles respectively. Decolourization ability of the synthesized nano particles was tested for malachite green (MG) dye. The parameters viz. quantity of AgNP addition, pH and temperature were optimized using RSM. At the optimized conditions, experiments were carried out at various initial dye concentrations and contact time. The results shows that the synthesized AgNP decolorizes MG dye efficiently. From the equilibrium and kinetic studies, it was also found that the D-R isotherm and Intra particle diffusion model fits the data well, respectively.