Limonia acidissima fruit juice mediated eco-friendly synthesis of pervoskite ZnSnO3 nanoparticles: Applications to photocatalytic, electrochemical, antioxidant and antibacterial activities

Abstract

In anticipation toa growing desire for start-ups to be both green and sustainable, there has been an increase in research focus on the effective removal and degradation of toxic wastewater effluents. A viable and sustainable wastewater treatment method is the use of light to degrade organic contaminants. Photocatalysis holds great potential for addressing environmental, energy, and health challenges, offering sustainable solutions for a wide range of applications with significant societal and economic benefits. In this paper, a multicomponent heterostructure photocatalyst ZnSnO3 was designed and prepared via a simple environmentally responsible path, which included the use of limonia acidissima natural fruit juice as a capping and reducing agent. The ZnSnO3 nanoparticles that were generated were examined using XRD, FT-IR, UV-DRS, SEM-EDAX, TEM, PL and BET investigations. The structure and crystallographic parameters were examined using XRD analysis, and found that the crystallite had orthorhombic geometry. The functional groups were investigated using FTIR spectroscopy. The band gaps (3.59 & 3.69 eV) were estimated using a Tauc plot employing the data of UV-DRS. According to SEM and TEM studies, the morphologies are irregular in shape and have particles that are about 14 nm in size. EDAX analysis was used to determine the elemental composition of the examined ZnSnO3 nanostructures, which demonstrated their purity. Using PL spectroscopy, superficial defects were investigated. The synthesized NPs were used as photocatalysts to degradethe methylene blue dye. Electrochemical measurement of K3[Fe(CN)6] revealed a good sensory activity with a detection limit of 38 μL. K3[Fe(CN)6] is used to detect ferrous ions in biological specimens. Furthermore, it also shows the superior anti-bacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, and gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens. To the best of our literature survey, it’s the first report for the synthesis of ZnSnO3 nanostructures using the natural reducing agent limonia acidissima natural fruit juice for dye degradation, electrochemical, anti-oxidant, and anti-bacterial applications.