Achillea millefolium L. extract mediated green synthesis of waste peach kernel shell supported silver nanoparticles: Application of the nanoparticles for catalytic reduction of a variety of dyes in water

[Display omitted] •Green synthesis of Ag NPs/peach kernel shell by Achillea millefolium L. extract.•Reduction of 4-NP, MO and MB in water.•Catalyst was characterized using FESEM, XRD, TEM, TG-DTA, EDS, FT-IR and UV–vis.•The catalyst can be recovered and reused several times without significant loss of catalytic activity. In this paper, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are synthesized using Achillea millefolium L. extract as reducing and stabilizing agents and peach kernel shell as an environmentally benign support. FT-IR spectroscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Thermo gravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize peach kernel shell, Ag NPs, and Ag NPs/peach kernel shell. The catalytic activity of the Ag NPs/peach kernel shell was investigated for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), Methyl Orange (MO), and Methylene Blue (MB) at room temperature. Ag NPs/peach kernel shell was found to be a highly active catalyst. In addition, Ag NPs/peach kernel shell can be recovered and reused several times with no significant loss of its catalytic activity.