Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles from root extract of Scutellaria baicalensis and its photocatalytic degradation activity using methylene blue

Abstract

The green approach based nanoparticles synthesizing is considered as an eco-friendly and cost effective method for producing nanoparticles compared to the other procedures. Additionally, using nanoparticles for the environmental pollution is the big achievement for solving these issues. In this study, we applied Scutellaria baicalensis (S. baicalensis) root extract as a reducing agent, hence that secondary metabolites may used as a capping agent for synthesizing zinc nanoparticles using one-pot method. Further, UV–vis, FTIR, EDX, FE-TEM, and XRD were used to determine the characterization of nanoparticles. For nanoparticles formation, the surface plasmon resonance were measured using UV–vis spectroscopy at 360 nm wavelength. The functional group of nanoparticles was determined using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy). On other hand, crystallization, structural and morphological configuration were obtained by FE-TEM (Field-Emission Transmission Electron Microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), and EDX (Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) respectively. We used Sb-ZnO NPs as a photocatalyst in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under the UV light irradiation. The rate constant of degradation of MB with 0.05 mg/ml Sb-ZnO NPs was calculated 0.016 min−1, which resulted 98.6% of degradation in 210 min. In summary, Sb-ZnO NPs have an ability as a reducing agent for photocatalysis, moreover it confirmed in MB photodegradation.