GREEN SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METAL OXIDE NANOPARTICLES USING PLANT EXTRACTS FOR CATALYTIC AND ANTIBACTERIAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Developing eco-friendly alternatives to traditional chemical and physical methods of synthesizing nanoparticles has become a priority. In this case study, metal oxide nanoparticles, specifically Fe₂O₃, ZnO, and CuO, were produced using neem leaf (Azadirachta indica) aqueous extracts as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The nanoparticles were then characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM as a means to understand their optical, structural, and morphological properties. The characterization results illustrated the successful formation of crystalline nanoparticles with diameters of 20–50 nm. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye under visible light was used to assess the photocatalytic activity and was shown to be greater than the photocatalytic activity of the chemically synthesized nanoparticles. The nanoparticles also displayed significant antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. To summarize, the results of this case study show that plant-mediated synthesis of functional nanomaterials for environmental and biomedical use is both cost-effective and free of harmful environmental by-products.