Photocatalytic activity of biogenic silver nanoparticles synthesized using Coleus Vettiveroids

[Display omitted] •Simple, safe and eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the leaf extract of Coleus Vettiveroids.•Study the influence of silver ion concentration on the size and properties of AgNPs.•AgNPs exhibited remarkable photocatalytic degradation properties in the reduction of organic dyes, methylene blue, malachite green, and crystal violet. In this work, simple, safe and eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the leaf extract of Coleus Vettiveroids was carried out and it showed that the chemical species variations in this common family of plant extracts can have a different reducing ability of silver ions. The nanoparticles of silver were formed by the reduction, during UV exposure, of aqueous silver nitrate solution containing leaf extract of Coleus Vettiveroids. The AgNP formation was confirmed by the appearance of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) band at ∼420 nm, which is characteristic for nano silver. The size of the prepared nanoparticles was characterised using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), average particle size was around 41.4 nm and for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) the size was found to be ∼30 nm. The biogenic AgNPs found to have photocatalytic ability to degrade textile dyes such as crystal violet, methylene blue and malachite green. They exhibited excellent catalytic activity in the degradation of organic dyes within 3 hours of exposure time in presence of sunlight.