Nanoremediation of ground water contaminants using CuONPs and ZnONPs synthesized from endophytic fungi

Abstract The global wide threatening problem is the pollution especially water and soil pollution are biggest threats to our people. The pollution not only damages the resources but also enters the ecosystem and impairs our health. The pollution disfigures the fertility of the soil and contaminates the ground water table which is the most reliable source of all living organisms. Due to urbanization of people and scarcity of the water resources the people rely on the ground water for the domestic and drinking needs. The advancement in science and technology paved a path as nanotechnology to overcome these problems. In this current investigation the CuO Nanoparticles (CuONPs) and ZnO Nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were synthesized from endophytic fungal isolated strains that were existed and picked through isolation technique from Aegle marmelos. The CuONPs and ZnONPs were characterized through SEM, XRD, EDX, UV- Vis spectrum and FT- IR analyses which were previously reported. The ground water samples were collected near, in and around of the garbage- dump site of Vellalore – Kurichi village, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India; three areas were selected and water samples were collected. The basic physico- chemical parameters such like BOD, COD, TDS, hardness, pH, chlorides, sulphates, nitrates and heavy metal(s) of the collected samples were analysed. The adsorption studies were initiated with three different concentrations of CuONPs and ZnONPs in 100 mL of polluted ground water samples, and the kinetics was started with 0th minute and extended till 180 minutes. The adsorption rate increased with the increase in time; the CuONPs and ZnONPs adsorbed the pollutants including Arsenic (V) effectively. The nanoremediated samples were further taken to determine the effectiveness in aiding the plant growth promotion and this was executed in Trigonella sp plants. The plants were grown well which was compared to the control plants and the phytochemical assessment was carried out. The presence of phytochemicals of the plants grown in nanoremediated samples was similar to that of control plants. Further, the CuONPs and ZnONPs has the ability in remediating the pollutants/ contaminants in the ground water.