Abstract

Water is essential for life, ecosystems, and economic growth. Water availability and quality are essential for health, agriculture, industry, making water management essential to sustainable development. Industrial waste such toxic chemicals, dyes and heavy metals pollutes water supplies today. Arsenic (As) and Cadmium (Cd) will be removed from water using plant-derived iron NPs in this experiment. NPs were synthesised from Ocimum tenuiflorum, Margosa, and Helianthus annuus. The percentage of arsenic and cadmium biosorption determined this method’s efficacy. To maximise heavy metal biosorption (%) from aqueous solutions, the Taguchi L16 orthogonal array (4 factors at 4 levels) was used to statistically optimise process parameters like Plant NP quantity, pH values, exposure time, and initial arsenic and cadmium concentrations. Maximum As and Cd biosorption (%) was 99.92% and 98.95% under optimum circumstances. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.