Green synthesis, characterization and antibacterial potential of zinc oxide nanoparticles with naringenin

In comparison to physical and chemical fabrication of metal nanoparticles, green synthesized nanoparticles are non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable; they undergo a single-step bioreduction process. This research was primarily driven by the goal of creating an environment friendly, efficient, and sustainable process for synthesizing ZnO NPs using naringenin, a naturally occurring flavonoid with well-established medicinal benefits. The growing need to replace traditional chemical synthesis methods which frequently involve energy-intensive processes and toxic reducing agents with environment friendly, biocompatible, and scalable alternatives served as the impetus for the study. The synthesized ZnO NPs were characterized using different analytical techniques such as UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, FESEM-EDS and HRTEM. The UV-Vis spectra of the synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles showed a strong absorption peak at 374 nm. The XRD pattern exhibits prominent and precise diffraction, which indicate good crystallinity. Both FESEM and HRTEM confirmed that the synthesized ZnO NPs were compactly organized and polycrystalline-looking particles with an average size 25 to 31 nm. EDS analysis provided further evidence of the product’s purity. Disc diffusion method was used to examined the antibacterial potential of the synthesized ZnO NPs against pathogenic bacterial strains namely S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and E. faecalis. The zones of inhibition of 11 ± 0.1 mm, 10 ± 0.1 mm, 9 ± 0.1 mm and 9 ± 0.1 mm was observed in E. faecalis, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus respectively.