Bio-mediated synthesis of ZnO nanostructures for efficient photodegradation of methyl orange and methylene blue

We report herewith the Syzygium cumini leaf extract-mediated synthesis of nanostructures of ZnO as a green approach. The XRD pattern shows that the ZnO NSs associate to the hexagonal wurtzite structure. From DRS, the band edge is found to be 393 nm (E-g = 3.16 eV). The FT-IR spectrum of ZnO shows the formation of Zn-O bond, and SC plant extract shows the presence of -CHO, -NH2, aromatic rings, and -OH groups that are responsible for the biochemical conversion. The TEM images show that the synthesized ZnO NSs are in spherical shape with the particle size of 25-30 nm. The photodegradation efficiency of ZnO NSs was determined under UV-Vis light using methyl orange and methylene blue as model dye pollutants. The photodegradation reaction follows pseudo-first-order kinetics with 88% efficiency for MO degradation within 150 min, whereas 84% for MB within 60 min under UV-Vis. light.

Automated summary

The study reports the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanostructures using Syzygium cumini leaf extract, which exhibit spherical shape with a particle size of 25-30 nm. The synthesized ZnO nanostructures show high photodegradation efficiency for model dye pollutants under UV-Vis light, with 88% degradation efficiency for methyl orange and 84% for methylene blue within specific time frames.