Green approach for fabrication and applications of zinc oxide nanoparticles.

Brajesh Kumar,Luis Cumbal,Alexis Debut,Kumari Smita

doi:10.1155/2014/523869

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are known to be one of the multifunctional inorganic compounds which are widely used in everyday applications. This study aims to fabricate ZnO-NPs using grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) peel extract with particle size ranging from 12 to 72 nm. Structural, morphological, and optical properties of the synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized by using UV-Vis spectrophotometer, TEM, DLS, and FTIR analysis. They show the significant photocatalytic degradation efficiency (>56%, 10 mg/L, 6 h) against methylene blue and antioxidant efficacy (≥80% for 1.2 mM) against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. From the results obtained it is suggested that green ZnO-NPs could be used effectively in environmental safety applications and also can address future medical concerns.

Highlights

In recent years, zinc oxide (ZnO), an important semiconductor with tremendous scientific and technological interest, having a direct wide band gap (3.37 eV, 387 nm, deep violet/borderline ultraviolet (UV)) and a large exciton-binding energy (60 meV) [1], is a highly preferred multitasking metal oxide having a vast list of attractive properties
Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) with the features of large volume to area ratio and high UV absorption have been widely used in many industrial areas such as solar cells [4], UV light-emitting devices [5], gas sensors [6, 7], photocatalysts [8], and pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries [9]
The current study shows the green approach for fabrication of ZnO nanoparticles and it is responsible for significant photocatalytic and antioxidant activity

Summary

Introduction

Zinc oxide (ZnO), an important semiconductor with tremendous scientific and technological interest, having a direct wide band gap (3.37 eV, 387 nm, deep violet/borderline ultraviolet (UV)) and a large exciton-binding energy (60 meV) [1], is a highly preferred multitasking metal oxide having a vast list of attractive properties. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) with the features of large volume to area ratio and high UV absorption have been widely used in many industrial areas such as solar cells [4], UV light-emitting devices [5], gas sensors [6, 7], photocatalysts [8], and pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries [9]. Several physical and chemical procedures have been used for the synthesis of large quantities of metal nanoparticles in a relatively short period of time. Approaches such as simple solution-based methods, chemical precipitation [10], solgel [11], solvothermal/hydrothermal [12, 13], sonochemical [14, 15], electrochemical, and photochemical reduction techniques are most widely used [16]. Biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) by Aloe vera [22], Bacillus cereus [23], Fusarium spp. [24], and Medicago sativa [25], as biological materials, is fully explored

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