GREEN SYNTHESIS OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES USING BAUHINIA VARIEGATA LEAVES FOR EFFECTIVE PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF DYES IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were synthesized using Bauhinia variegata (BV) leaf extract through a facile and eco-friendly green synthesis approach.The green-synthesized BV-ZnO NPs were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, PXRD, FT-IR, SEM, SEM-EDX, TEM, and SAED.The obtained NPs were spherical and polycrystalline with a crystallite size of 28 nm.BV-ZnO NPs were employed as photocatalysts for the degradation of three dyes, Rhodamine B (RhB), Crystal Violet (CV), and Fluorescein Sodium (FS), from aqueous solutions in sunlight.Photocatalytic degradation of 84.81% of CV dye, 94.82% of FS dye, and 91.54% of RhB dye was achieved in 30 minutes for the CV and FS dyes, whereas it took 180 minutes for the RhB dye.Antimicrobial activity was evaluated using the bacterial strains, gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, and gram-negative Klebsiella pneumoniae.The study provided a low-cost method for removing hazardous dyes in aqueous solutions using green synthesized ZnO nanoparticles as a photocatalyst.