Ecological Sound Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles, Their Structural Characterization and Application in Wastewater Remediation

Absract. Instead of using the extremely expensive chemical and physical methods, the current study used a cost-effective and ecologically friendly green synthesis strategy to create zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs). In order to produce ZnO NPs, this study used zinc acetate dihydrate, sodium hydroxide precursors, and an extract of ephedra, which are readily available plants in the Siazga mountains Loralai, Pakistan. ZnO NPs were created using the sol-gel auto combustion process and calcined at 300oC. Ephedra plant stems were used as fuel (reducing and capping agents). Several characterization methods were obtained for ZnO NPs' structural, morphological, band gap and optical properties. The size and structure of the crystallites were determined by evaluating the produced ZnO NPs using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Energy band gap which was measured at 3.60 eV and the average crystallite size was calculated to be 26.54 nm. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used to determine elemental composition and purity confirmation, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) for surface morphology, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) for functional group identification, and a UV-vis spectrometer. These nanoparticles have been applied to purify water by removing Malachit green.