Electrochemical, structural, optical, and morphological characteristics of Cu-loaded ZnO nanostructures synthesized from bio-waste (maize) using a green synthesis technique

Abstract

The study reports feasibility to synthesis copper loaded ZnO nanoparticles using a green synthesis approach influenced by natural extracts from waste maize materials is explored. Different methods were used to investigate the physicochemical characteristics of Cu-ZnO nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies were used to investigate the structural behavior of Cu-ZnO nanoparticles. XRD analysis shows that Cu-ZnO has a typical crystallite size of 23.5nm and a confirmed hexagonal structure. In the wavenumber range 400–600 cm-1 , FT-IR confirmed the presence of metallic elements in Cu-ZnO samples. Through the use of UV–vis spectroscopy, we were able to investigate the optical characteristics of Cu-ZnO. The samples' surface morphology was recorded by FESEM, and their elemental content was evaluated by EDX. This verifies the spherical shape of prepared samples with homogeneous size distributions across their structures. The nanostructured redox behaviour of electroactive Cu-ZnO has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry