Plant-based synthesis of NiO nanoparticles using salvia macrosiphon Boiss extract and examination of their water treatment

The goal of this study was to synthesize nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) by the sol-gel method, which involved the use of salvia macrosiphon Boiss plant extract, Ni(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O as a capping agent, and a nickel precursor, respectively. The synthesized NiO-NPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field electron scanning electron microscopy (FESEM)/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), thermo-gravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analyzes. Also, according to the results of UV-Vis, the gap band of nanoparticles was calculated to be in the range of about 2.9-3.9 eV. The photocatalytic activity of nanoparticles on methylene blue (MB) degradation was investigated and according to the results, about 80% MB was apparently degraded in the presence of NiO-NPs under UV-A light (11 W) after 5 h in pH similar to 11. We have evaluated the cytotoxicity of NiO-NPs on the multiple tumor cells by materials method, and all the utilized concentrations were observed to cause non-toxic effects; therefore, it can be suggested that these samples have the potential of being employed in different fields of medicine.