Efficient Methylene Blue Dye Degradation Using ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized Using <i>Abroma augusta</i> Leaf Extract

Abstract Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are among the most advanced materials due to their ability to apply in versatile applications and have been formulated by several approaches, including green chemistry methods. Plant based green synthesis of ZnO NPs have gained tremendous attention because of their safe and non‐toxic nature. In this study, ZnO NPs have been produced using the leaf extract of Abroma augusta (also known as Ulatkambal) and have been utilized for photocatalytic degradation of Methylene blue Dye. The characterization of these NPs have been carried out using XRD, XPS, FESEM, and FTIR which shows the formation of ZnO NPs in the hexagonal wurtzite structure with the crystallite size of ≈11 nm. The FESEM images show the formation of nanoparticles in the size distribution of 2–22 nm and with the average particle of 12 nm. The optical study has been carried out using spectrophotometer and spectrofluorometer. The absorbance spectrum shows the peak at 354 nm and the band gap is calculated to be 3.5 eV. These NPs on excitation with 340 nm wavelength show two emission peaks at 374 and 442 nm. The synthesized AbA‐ZnO NPs show increased photocatalytic degradation efficiency for Methylene blue Dye (91%) as compared to ZnO synthsized in the absence of A. augusta leaf extract (42%). The present study attempts to show a novel greener protocol to improve the photodegradation process for different environmental pollutants.