a Department of Chemistry, Government College University Faisalabad-38000,

Pakistan

^bDepartment of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata Italy,

Italy

^cDepartment of Applied Sciences, Pakistan Navy Engineering College NUST,

Karachi, 75350,Pakistan

^dDepartment of Chemistry, Baba Guru Nanak University, Nankana Sahib-39100, Pakistan

^eDepartment of Chemistry, School of Science, University of Management and

Technology, Lahore 54770, Pakistan

Imidacloprid is a common pesticide, which can leach into groundwater and cause lethal diseases in humans. So, it is needful to degrade the imidacloprid from water via a green approach. So, the Al2O3/GO nanocomposites (Al2O3/GO NCs) were synthesized through a green hydrothermal approach. The alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles were prepared using Cymbopogon citrus (Lemongrass) leave extract and Graphene oxide (GO) was prepared with the Hummer’s process. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, and FTIR to determine composition and functional groups, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation of imidacloprid from water carried under sunlight and was monitored by a UV- visible spectrophotometer. The impact of parameters such as contact time, temperature, pH, catalyst dose, oxidant, and pesticide dose were also observed during photocatalytic degradation of imidacloprid. At optimized values of all parameters (i.e., Temperature: 340K, pH: 3, Al2O3/GO: 90 mg/L, H2O2 : 8 mM, imidacloprid: 4 ppm), the 98.09% imidacloprid degradation was noted after 90 minutes. Thus, the Al2O3/GO NCs are excellent photocatalysts with high degradation ability, stability, and reusability.