Effective facile green route for the synthesis of stabilized ZnS nanoparticle: Compact discussion on structural, optical, photocatalytic degradation performance for picric acid under UV–Visible light

Abstract

The recent confronts for the industrialized society is an environmental contamination, particularly uncontrolled emancipation of organic pollutants such as NAC (NitroAromatic Compound) categorized compounds from the diverse industries including chemical, pharmaceutical, health care products, pesticides, explosive manufacturing, etc.1 have incited huge universal attention owing to their toxicity and removal process.1Zinc Sulphide nanoparticles have been developed via a facile green extract reduction method using citrus limon leaf extract as stabilizing and capping agent. The structural elucidations were demonstrated with diverse characterization techniques including SEM, XRD, EDAX, FT-IR, UV–vis spectrum and photoluminescence spectrum. The electrostatic interactions of the prepared ZnS nanoparticle with the Fenton’s reaction facilitate enhanced photocatalytic activities toward picric acid (PA) under a wide pH ranges from 4.0 to 11.0. However, the supreme photocatalytic degradation efficiency was observed in acidic conditions and decreased the catalytic efficiency with increasing pH. The ZnS was photocatalytically active under UV radiations, visible and sunlight. Even though, the photocatalytic performance of ZnS under UV irradiation of 254 nm with addition of Fenton’s reagent facilitates rapid degradations of PA. This study paves new understanding into the green extract synthesis of ZnS, and the effective photo-Fenton’s properties can be utilized to remove the pollutants from the affected environment.