Silver nanoclusters doped in zeolite to decontaminate water resources from the quinalphos pesticide

Ag (I) nanoclusters doped in mordenite zeolite were prepared and spectroscopically analyzed. Strong luminescence emission that is dependent on the excitation wavelength was observed. These variations in the emission modes are due to the site selective luminescence where various luminophores might be excited upon selecting the proper excitation wavelength. The selected material was found to have strong affinity to remove the quinalphos pesticide, which is widely used for the protection of several vegetable and fruit crops, from water bodies. HPLC and GC–MS techniques were used to follow the kinetic data and to identify the photodecomposition products, respectively. The photodecomposition of quinalphos in the presence of the silver doped mordenite catalyst gives different products compared to the irradiation of quinalphos without catalyst. The presence of the Ag-mordenite catalyst not only adsorbs the quinalphos from the solution but it also reduces its toxic effect as tested on the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster).