A novel green and template free approach for the synthesis of gold nanorice and its utilization as a catalyst for the degradation of hazardous dye

•Design of a novel green and template free method.•Special morphology (Gold nanorice) was obtained.•The obtained gold nanorice was (180 ± 40) nm along long axis and (60 ± 20) nm along the short axis.•The gold nanorice was employed for the removal of hazardous dye.•The method is simple, economic, environmental friendly and cost-effective.

Herein, we describe a simple, green and template free method for the production of rice shaped gold nanostructures using an aqueous extract of the egg shells of Anas platyrhynchos. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV–visible, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction pattern (SAED) and FT-IR studies. The UV–visible spectrum of the synthesized gold nanostructures showed a transverse mode surface plasmon resonance peaks (SPR) at around 540 nm and a longitudinal mode at 880 nm. The TEM and SAED pattern confirmed the morphology, size and crystallographic structure of the synthesized gold nanorice. The synthesized gold nanorice was utilized for the removal of a toxic Eosin Y dye by photodegradation. It was observed that the dye was degraded completely within 1 h and the percentage efficiency was found to be 96.1%.

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