Green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using the aqueous extract of Platanus orientalis: Structural characterization and photocatalytic activity

In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were prepared from the aqueous leaves extract of Platanus orientalis by a green route. To gain optimum synthesis terms for production of ZnO NPs, response surface methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken design (BBD) was applied. The NPs were investigated by several techniques including Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), UV–Vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunear-Emmet- Teller (BET) analysis. The average crystallite revealed a size of 23.48 nm measured by PXRD. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and PXRD analyses indicated the presence of the ZnO crystalline phase. Besides, FE-SEM and TEM analyses of biosynthesized ZnO NPs confirmed their spherical shape. Calculations showed that the optical band gap value of biosynthesized ZnO NPs is less than commercial sample, which can be attributed to the presence of some natural compounds of the plant extract in the ZnO structure. Biosynthesized ZnO NPs were also used as a photocatalytic material for the degradation of Acid Red 14, resulting in about 85% dye degradation under xenon lamp irradiation for 45 min. Due to their eco-friendly synthesis and non-toxic nature, ZnO NPs prepared from P. orientalis extract can be used as potential candidates for some environmental applications such as photocatalytic processes.