TY - JOUR AU - Kandiah, Mathivathani AU - Vinayagamoorthy, Sivaniya AU - Gunaratne, Beneli AU - Perera, Ominda PY - 2025 DA - 2025/12/01 TI - Paranitrophenol and Organic Azo Dye Degradation: Catalytic Power of <i>Terminalia</i> Leaf Silver Nanoparticles JO - Catalysis Research SP - 010 VL - 05 IS - 04 AB - Terminalia species is a widely available plant that can be used to synthesise silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and harness their catalytic capacity. This experimental design will explore the potential of Terminalia AgNPs in contributing to the degradation process of toxic chemicals generated by industries such as textiles, food, and pharmaceuticals. This research uses four leaf varieties of Terminalia species—T. arjuna, T. bellirica, T. chebula, and T. catappa—to synthesize AgNPs, evaluate their optimal synthesis conditions, morphological characteristics, methylene blue, methyl orange, para-para-nitrophenol degradation, and cytotoxicity. Water extracts of T. arjuna, T. bellirica, and T. catappa successfully synthesised AgNPs at an optimal condition of 90°C and 45 minutes with AgNP peaks between 420 nm and 480 nm. T. catappa showed the presence of spherical AgNPs of 40 nm - 60 nm under scanning electron microscopy. The catalytic potential of Terminalia AgNPs was observed at different volumes (20 μL and 50 μL). The highest rate of 0.4013 min-1 catalytic function was obtained with 50 μL of T. bel_AgNP, and the lowest rate of 0.1561 min-1 was obtained with 20 μL of T. cat_AgNP. Terminalia AgNP demonstrated successful degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange with and without the addition of a catalyst (sodium borohydride). In methylene blue degradation, the highest rate was obtained with 266.67 ppm T.arj_AgNP and sodium borohydride at 0.0647 min-1. In methyl orange degradation, the highest rate was obtained at 266.67 ppm T.bel_AgNP and sodium borohydride with a rate of 0.0762 min-1. These findings highlight a higher degradation efficiency of methyl orange when sodium borohydride is added. The cytotoxicity study using Artemia salina exposure to 800 ppm and 200 ppm AgNPs showed 100% viability. Overall, these findings highlight Terminalia leaf AgNPs as potential, non-toxic substitutes for environmental remediation. SN - 2771-490X UR - https://doi.org/10.21926/cr.2504010 DO - 10.21926/cr.2504010 ID - Kandiah2025 ER -