The present study investigates the efficiency of bimetallic zinc-silver (Zn-Ag) nanoparticles embedded in montmorillonite (MMT)-biopolymer viz., Zn-Ag/MMT/Chitosan (Ch), Zn-Ag/MMT/Gum ghatti (Gg) and Zn- Ag/MMT/Poly lactic acid (PLA) nanobiocomposites for the removal of monocrotophos (MCP) from aqueous solution. The composites were characterized by XRD, TGA, and BET. The parameters viz., pH, contact time, temperature, initial concentration and dosage were optimized. The removal of MCP followed the order: Zn- Ag/MMT/PLA (98.8%)>Zn-Ag/MMT/Ch (90.7%)>Zn-Ag/MMT/Gg (86.9%) >Zn-Ag/MMT (64.8%). The adsorption of MCP onto composites was well explained by Freundlich model. The kinetic studies suggested that the adsorption of MCP on composites proceeds according to pseudo-first order. Intraparticle diffusion and Boyd plot suggested that the film diffusion was not the sole rate limiting step. Thermodynamic parameters of adsorption were also determined. The mechanism of adsorption process was also elucidated by FT-IR, AFM and EDX. Furthermore, regeneration studies showed that the adsorbent could be reused up to six cycles.
