Scallion Peel Mediated Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and Their Applications as Nano fertilizer and Photocatalyst for Removal of Organic Pollutants from Wastewater
Soufiane Soltani,
Amel Gacem,
Nisha Choudhary,
Virendra Kumar Yadav,
Huda Alsaeedi,
Shreya Modi,
Aradhana Patel,
Samreen Heena Khan,
Marina M. S. Cabral-Pinto,
Krishna Kumar Yadav,
Ashish Patel
Affiliations
Soufiane Soltani
Department of Physics, Physical Chemistry of Surfaces and Interfaces Research Laboratory of Skikda (LRPCSI), University of Skikda, Skikda 21000, Algeria
Amel Gacem
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University 20 Août 1955, Skikda 21000, Algeria
Nisha Choudhary
Department of Life Sciences, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan 384265, India
Virendra Kumar Yadav
Department of Biosciences, School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Mody University of Science and Technology, Lakshmangarh, Sikar 332311, India
Huda Alsaeedi
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Shreya Modi
Department of Microbiology, Shri Sarvajanik Science College, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Mehsana 384001, India
Aradhana Patel
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Sankalchand Patel University, Mehsana 384315, India
Samreen Heena Khan
Department of Research and Development, YNC Envis Private Limited, New Delhi 110059, India
Marina M. S. Cabral-Pinto
Geobiotec Research Centre, Department of Geoscience, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Krishna Kumar Yadav
Faculty of Science and Technology, Madhyanchal Professional University, Bhopal 462044, India
Ashish Patel
Department of Life Sciences, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan 384265, India
Nanotechnology and nanomaterials have gained much attention in recent years due to their remarkable features. Among nanoparticles, photocatalytic material, such as zinc oxide, have shown tremendous applications in each and every field of science. In the present research, investigators have synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) using Scallion’s peel extract. ZnONPs were both spherical and rod-shaped, where the size for spherical particles was 40–100 nm and rod-shaped, particles size was more than 200 nm as confirmed by microscopic techniques. The typical trademark bands of ZnONPs at 400–800 cm−1 were revealed by infrared spectroscopy, which also showed bands of carbonyl and hydroxyl groups. The hydrodynamic size by particle size analyzer (PSA) shows a size near about 200 nm in diameter. Furthermore, the synthesized ZnONPs were used to assess their potential as a micronutrient for the plant and nano adsorbent for the removal of antibiotics (ampicillin) and methylene blue dye from the simulated wastewater. The antibiotic and dye removal were observed under UV light and visible light against contact time. In comparison to control seeds, seeds grown with ZnONPs have shown better germination and seedling. It could be concluded that ZnONPs acted as an important nanosized source of nutrition for agricultural applications. Thus, the effect of ZnONPs has been proven as a nano-based nutrient source for agricultural purposes. The remediation study found that remediation of both ampicillin and methylene blue dye was efficient under UV light under similar experimental parameters from the simulated wastewater by the ZnONPs.
