Biosynthesis of Ag, ZnO and bimetallic Ag/ZnO alloy nanoparticles by aqueous extract of oak fruit hull (Jaft) and investigation of photocatalytic activity of ZnO and bimetallic Ag/ZnO for degradation of basic violet 3 dye

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and bimetallic silver/zinc oxide nanoparticles (Ag/ZnO NPs) were synthesized by simultaneous green chemistry reduction approach. Aqueous extracts of the oak fruit hull (Jaft) were found to reduce the metal ions to form bimetallic Ag/ZnO and then stabilise them by preventing further aggregation. Aqueous extract from the oak fruit hull (Jaft) was used as reducing and capping agents. FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) have been used in the characterization of the nanoparticles thus prepared. The XRD patterns of bimetallic Ag/ZnO alloy nanoparticles displayed crystallinity with observed diffraction peaks corresponding to Ag and ZnO. The bimetallic Ag/ZnO has an average particle size of 19.2 nm (FESEM). ZnO NPs and Ag/ZnO NPs were then used to degrade Basic violet 3 in aqueous solution. It took only 30 min for Ag/ZnO to decolorize 79% of Basic violet 3 while for ZnO it took more than 90 min to decolorize the similar amount of Basic violet 3. This one-step strategy using Jaft aqueous extract to synthesize Ag/ZnO NPs is simple, clean-green, cost-effective and environmentally benign, making possible the large-scale production of bimetallic Ag/ZnO NPs for field remediation.