Enhanced Biomedical and Photocatalytic Capabilities of Biosynthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using <i>Pistacia khinjuk</i> Plant Extract

Nanotechnology presents tackling diverse difficulties across numerous domains, including environmental remediation, catalysis, and medicine. This study adopted an ultrasonic-assisted technique to synthesize ZnO nanoparticles from Pistacia khinjuk leaf extract for biomedicine and dye degradation applications. The formation of biosynthesized nanoparticles was confirmed using various morphological techniques, including UV-visible spectroscopy (peak at ∼373 nm), x-ray diffraction analysis (indicating a hexagonal phase), particle size analyzer (particle size of ∼19 nm), and scanning electron microscopy (revealing an irregular shape). The maximum DPPH scavenging potential of ZnO nanoparticles at 100 µg/mL concentration was 71.3%. The ZnO nanoparticles demonstrated selective toxicity towards the HeLa cells (cancer cell lines) rather than fibroblast cells (normal cell lines). The ZnO nanoparticles demonstrated a photocatalytic effect of 97.6% in 150 min under UV light irradiation, indicating their potential for environmental remediation. The present work suggests the potential usage of P. khinjuk leaf as a source of bioactive compounds and underscores the efficacy of biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles in environmental and biomedical applications.