Sustainable synthesis of ZnO nanostructures using Ficus religiosa leaf extract with enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activity

This study presents a scalable approach to synthesizing zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures (NP’s) by utilizing the leaf extract of Ficus religiosa plant. The high performance thin layer chromatography substantiates leaf’s extract enriched with rutin, a phytoconstituents which played a pivotal role through acting as chelating and stabilizing agent during propagation of reaction. The Powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD) analysis displayed sharp and intense peaks that corroborate for high crystallinity to the synthesized ZnO NP’s, furthermore the P-XRD data were scrutinized with Rietveld refinement using FULLPROF and VESTA software’s which confirmed NP’s belongs to hexagonal wurtzite phase. The surface morphology of synthesized NP’s was investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, which revealed NP’s grown homogeneously and exhibited quasi-spherical, spherical and hexagonal structure’s with high purity. Transmission electron microscopy analysis endorsed FE-SEM results and shown NP’s have an average crystallite size of 5.72 ± 2 nm. Moreover, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy spectrum divulge a sharp peak at 516 cm⁻¹, which was arises due to Zn-O stretching vibration. Remarkably, the NP’s exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity; a complete 100 % degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye was monitored in 100 min of time interval under open air sunlight. Moreover, the substantial bactericidal properties of the NP’s were assessed against Escherichia coli (E.coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Therefore, this study highlights the effectiveness of leaf extract as a sustainable and eco-friendly resource for NP’s synthesis and emphasizes its potential for sunlight induced degradation of dye as well as antibacterial agent.