Biogenic synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using leaves extract of Camellia sinensis for photocatalytic and biological applications

Nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention of researchers due to their diverse properties in the fields of catalysis, energy devices, wound healing and drug delivery systems . Synthesis of nanoparticles using plants and microbial extract is a green approach due to easy handling, rapidity and cost-effectiveness. This article reported a simple and green method of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) synthesis using Camellia sinensis leaves extract as reducing agent. State-of-the-art techniques were utilized for the characterization and measure the potential applications of ZnO-NPs. FTIR and SEM analysis were performed to confirm the nature of bonding and morphology of NPs. XRD analysis confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure and crystallite size (34 nm) of ZnONPs. EDX analysis was performed to check the purity of NPs. Energy band gap of valence band and conduction band was found 3.278 eV using UV/Visible spectrophotometry. Purified ZnO-NPs were utilized to determine the photocatalytic potential for degradation of hazardous dye (methylene blue) at λmax of 668 nm under irradiation of sunlight. The results indicated ∼92% photodecomposition of dye after 110 min of sunlight irradiation. Moreover, ZnO-NPs also revealed the antibacterial potential, having better inhibition power against gram-negative bacterial strains.