Evaluation of biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticles from Tinospora cordifolia stem extract for photocatalytic, anti-microbial, and antifungal activities

Abstract

Due to industrial effluent (textile, paper, leather, etc.), dye is unfavorably prevalent in water bodies. This is a major source of contamination that must be eliminated since it poses a substantial harm to the ecology. Tinospora cordifolia (T. cordifolia) stem extract has the potential to be used in the ecologically sound and non-toxic biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications and wastewater remediation. These NPs have a hexagonal phase with a wurtzite structure, according to X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments. At 3.55, 3.56, and 3.67 eV, the optical band gap was shown to exist. Images taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) show that there are flower-shaped and agglomerated nanoparticles. Under UV light, the photocatalytic effectiveness of biosynthesized ZnO NPs was evaluated for the methylene blue (MB) dye degradation process. Following a first order kinetic model, 99% of the dye was broken down in 180 min. The created ZnO NPs can therefore be employed as photocatalysts for the breakdown of dye in wastewater. Additionally, the green approach's stabilised NPs from the stem of the (T. cordifolia) plant may be effective against the bacterial strains Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The lowest observed MIC and MBC values for S. aureus and E. coli were 10.45 μg/mL, 93.57 μg/mL and 20.24 μg/mL, 121.02 μg/mL respectively. Additionally, ZnO NPs have demonstrated outstanding antifungal efficacy. When the fungicidal % inhibition was evaluated on the R. nectrarix and F. oxysporum clinical strains, inhibition zones of 51 mm by 1.00 mm and 34 mm by 0.57 mm, respectively, were found.