Harnessing Euphorbia wallichii for the sustainable synthesis of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles with photocatalytic and antibacterial potential

The present study addresses the bio-mediated synthesis of phyto-functionalized cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CoFe 2 O 4 NPs) by means of Euphorbia wallichii leaf extract, which deals a green and sustainable route for the synthesis of nanoparticles. The leaf extract acts as a reducing and stabilizing agent in the synthesis of CoFe 2 O 4 NPs. The characterizations of CoFe 2 O 4 NPs were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) to confirm the phase and crystallinity, elemental composition and morphology were checked using scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). FTIR spectroscopy was used for functional groups analysis, and UV-DRS to calculate the bandgap energy. Moreover, the electrochemical surface area of CoFe 2 O 4 was determined by a potentiostat using Cyclic Votammetry (CV) technique. The phyto-functionalized CoFe 2 O 4 NPs showed excellent photocatalytic activity and 94.7% methylene Blue (MB) dye was degraded in 90 min under visible light irradiation with the rate constant 0.07935 min −1 . Further, trapping and recycling experiments were also carried out to check the durability of the photocatalyst, and the results indicate that the degradation efficney of CoFe 2 O 4 NPs was only decrease by 2.4%, even after four consecutive cycles. Moreover, the CoFe 2 O 4 NPs exhibited potent antibacterial activity towards Gram-positive and Gram negative bacterias, highlighting the property of CoFe 2 O 4 NPs for environmental and biomedical applications. • Efficient biosynthesis of CoFe₂O₄ NPs using Euphorbia wallichii leaf extract as a natural reducing and stabilizing agent. • Phyto-functionalized CoFe₂O₄ NPs exhibited excellent photocatalytic efficiency in degrading MB dye under visible light. • °OH is accountable Reactive Oxygen Species for the degradation of MB Dye. • Strong antibacterial activity demonstrated towards Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. • The eco-friendly CoFe₂O₄ NPs show promising result for integrated environmental remediation and antimicrobial therapy.