Citrus limon assisted green synthesis of MgO nanoparticles: Evaluation of phase, functional groups, surface morphology, thermal stability and colloidal stability

Abstract

Citrus limon (the common lemon juice) assisted green combustion was used to create MgO nanostructures. The powder was heat treated for 3 h at 350 °C, and the as-synthesized and heat treated MgO nanostructures were tested by various techniques to investigate their phase composition, structure, thermal stability, colloidal stability, surface morphology, and antimicrobial activities. XRD was performed to study the single-phase cubic structure of MgO nanostructures, and the XRD results confirmed that the sizes of the MgO nanostructures are in the nanoscale range. The average crystallite sizes for as-synthesized and heat-treated samples are 7.8 nm and 19.2 nm, respectively. The functional groups in the experiment were examined using FTIR in the 400–4000 nm range. Thermal analysis of the MgO nanostructures were recorded through TG-DTA and the results confirm the MgO NPs thermally decomposed at 359.77 °C and 361.86 °C. The colloidal stability of the samples was tested using Zeta potential, it confirms that both samples are stable. The external morphology of as-synthesized and heat-treated samples were visualized through SEM. It confirms that the as-synthesized and heat treated MgO samples are nanostructures. The elemental analysis confirms the presence of Mg and O in both samples. The antimicrobial activity of MgO nanostructures tested by plate count mothed and the heat-treated sample exhibits noticeable antimicrobial performance against G-positive and G-negative bacteria.