Study on Phytochemical Composition, Biosynthesis and Characterization of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Using Sargassum ilicifolium

Nanotechnology involves producing nanoscale materials with specific properties. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have potential applications in various fields. Due to toxic chemicals and environmental concerns, green methods using plants, fungi, bacteria, and algae have been adopted. An emerging area of nanotechnology is the green synthesis of nanoparticles using biological systems, particularly seaweed extracts. The green synthesis method has synthesized the zinc oxide nanoparticles using the aqueous extract of the brown seaweed Sargassum ilicifolium. The algal extract has greatly reduced the zinc acetate dihydrate salt solution to form zinc oxide nanoparticles. The synthesized zinc oxide (Zn-O) nanoparticles have been confirmed through Particle Size Analyzer (PSA), Raman spectroscopy, UltraViolet (UV)- Visible (Vis) spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The study used Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Particle Size Analyzer (PSA) to examine the size and shape of the Zn-O nanoparticles. Raman spectroscopy and UltraViolet-Vis spectroscopy confirmed the formation of Zn-O nanoparticles. The SEM results exhibited a range of 24.4 nm to 83.4 nm. The occurrence of Zn-O nanoparticles was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy with peaks at 276.98 cm-1, 414.67 cm-1, 462.03 cm-1, 514.99 cm-1, and 998.28cm-1 and UltraViolet-Vis spectroscopy with peak at 370 nm. The present study also deals with the qualitative phytochemical constituent analysis using the aqueous extracts of Sargassum ilicifolium. Alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycoside, tannins, amino acids, carbohydrates, and saponins were analyzed. Anthraquinone, anthocyanin, vitamin C, quinone, and phlobatannins were considered absent in the aqueous extract.