Cinnamomum tamala Leaf Extract Stabilized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: A Promising Photocatalyst for Methylene Blue Degradation

A facile green synthetic method is proposed for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using the bio-template Cinnamomum tamala (C. tamala) leaves extract. The morphological, functional, and structural characterization of synthesized ZnO NPs were studied by adopting different techniques such as energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Visible spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The fabricated ZnO NPs exhibit an average size of 35 nm, with a hexagonal nanostructure. Further, the well-characterized ZnO NPs were employed for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution. The photocatalytic activity was analyzed by changing the various physicochemical factors such as reaction time, amount of photocatalyst, precursor concentration, and calcination temperature of the ZnO NPs. All the studies suggest that the ZnO synthesized through the green protocol exhibits excellent photocatalytic potency against the dye molecules.

Automated summary

A facile green synthetic method using Cinnamomum tamala leaves extract as bio-template for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles was proposed. The well-characterized ZnO NPs exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity against dye molecules, showing strong degradation capability. Multiple characterization techniques were adopted to study the morphological, functional, and structural properties of the synthesized ZnO NPs.