F.I . Okolafor

All thanks to God almighty for giving me the grace, wisdom and strength to complete this my project work and also for His provision, protection and unmerited favour throughout the period of my study. To my supervisor Dr. F.I Okolafor, I want to say thank you for taking out time to ensure that this work was a success and for your unending support, love and care. May the good Lord continue to bless and reward you accordingly. My warm regards goes to my H.O D; Dr. E.O Oshomo and the entire lecturers and staffs of the Department of Science Laboratory Technology, University of Benin for their services rendered in making me a better person. Thank you all. Special gratitude to my parents Mr. and Mrs. Monday Aludu for being there always as regarding the spiritual, financial and all round support. May the good Lord continue to grant you many more years. I say a very big thank you to my sweet and lovely siblings, Obokparo, Eroure, Ajiri and Edafe thank you all for your support and care. I am forever grateful. To my friends Ejobona Mike and Victor who stood by me in the thick and thin of my project period and my entire five years of study in University of Benin, I want to say I love you all and may God grant you your heart desires. Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude to my course mates who assisted me at one point or the other. God bless you all

Nanoparticles are particles of matter ranging from 1-100nm in diameter. In this study, nontoxic, cost-effective and eco-friendly Ag, Au and Ag - Au composite NPs were synthesized using the culture biomass of Arspergillus carbonarius and the application of the NPs in the biosynthesized NPs were utilized in the remediation of waste petroleum products. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS/5.85) rDNA techniques were used to characterize Arspergillus carbonarius. The bioreduction properties of the Ag+ and Au+ NPs were monitored by UvV is spectrophotometry. The NPs obtained were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and FTIR (Fourier Transfer Spectroscopy) methods. The intensity of the NPs peak revealed hydroxyl (OH) and carbonyl (C=O) groups
formed by the capping of the carboxylic acid moieties. The XRD peaks were compared with the Joint committee on Powered Diffraction Standard (JCPDS) card as a face-centered cubic (FCC) crystal lattice structure. The Morphological structure of the Synthesized NPs revealed pores strands formed on the perisplasmic surface of the mycelia of the A. Cabonarius. The Ag, Au and AgAu exhibited potential bioremediation activity in waste engine oil cleanup. Thus, the NPs can be utilized as potential agent for remediation of petroleum products.