Bio‐Extract Mediated Synthesis of Y/Fe ₂ O ₃ Nanoparticles Using <i>Adenanthera pavonina L</i> . and Their Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Activities

Abstract The present study uses Adenanthera pavonina L . plant extract to synthesize Y/Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles in a sustainable and efficient manner. Several physicochemical investigations were performed on the synthesized Y/Fe 2 O 3 to evaluate its structure and morphological characteristics. The high crystallinity of Fe 2 O 3 and decreased crystal size of Y/Fe 2 O 3 were revealed by the XRD study. The formulated Y/Fe 2 O 3 was spherical in shape. Y/Fe 2 O 3 has shown potential photocatalytic activity in the degradation of congo red and brilliant green dyes in the presence of visible light. Degradation efficiency is higher than 90% for both dyes. In addition, the antibacterial activity of Y/Fe 2 O 3 was measured against pathogenic strains of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Micrococcus luteus, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas putida, Shigella dysenteriae , and Staphylococcus aureus . Y/Fe 2 O 3 showed promising antibacterial activity against all microorganisms. Micrococcus luteus showed a higher zone of inhibition (equal to 35 mm in diameter) than other microorganisms using Y/Fe 2 O 3 . Thus, it is established that the green synthesized Y/Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles are active catalysts for the photocatalytic degradation of hazardous dyes and have antibacterial properties against different bacterial stains.