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Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles by two different methods & comparison of their structural, antibacterial, photocatalytic and optical properties

Md Jahidul Haque 1 , Md Masum Bellah 1 , Md Rakibu Hassan 1 and Suhanur Rahman 1

Published 16 March 2020 • © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd Nano Express , Volume 1 , Number 1 Citation Md Jahidul Haque et al 2020 Nano Ex. 1 010007 DOI 10.1088/2632-959X/ab7a43

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1 Department of Glass & Ceramic Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Rajshahi-6204, Bangladesh

Md Jahidul Haque https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7945-5937

• Received 23 December 2019
• Revised 3 February 2020
• Accepted 26 February 2020
• Published 16 March 2020

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Method : Single-anonymous Revisions: 1 Screened for originality? Yes

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In this work, two different methods (sol-gel and biosynthesis) were adopted for the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. The leaf extract of Azadirachta Indica (Neem) was utilized in the biosynthesis scheme. Structural, antibacterial, photocatalytic and optical performances of the two variants were analyzed. Both variants demonstrated a wurtzite hexagonal structure. The biosynthesized variant (25.97 nm) exhibited smaller particles than that of the sol-gel variant (33.20 nm). The morphological analysis revealed that most of the particles of the sol-gel variant remained within the range of 15 nm to 68 nm while for the biosynthesized variant the range was 10–70 nm. The antibacterial assessment was redacted by using the agar well diffusion method in which the bacteria medium was Escherichia coli O157: H7. The zone of inhibition of bacterial growth was higher in the biosynthesized variant (14.5 mm). The photocatalytic performances of the nanoparticles were determined through the degradation of methylene blue dye in which the biosynthesized variant provided better performance. The electron spin resonance (EPR) analysis revealed that the free OH · radicals were the primary active species for this degradation phenomenon. The absorption band of the sol-gel and biosynthesized variants were 363 nm and 356 nm respectively. The optical band gap energy of the biosynthesized variant (3.25 eV) was slightly higher than that of the sol-gel variant (3.23 eV). Nevertheless, the improved antibacterial and photocatalytic responses of the biosynthesized variants were obtained due to the higher rate of stabilization mechanism of the nanoparticles by the organic chemicals (terpenoids) present in the Neem leaf extract.

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1. Introduction

As a rapidly growing sector in materials science, nanotechnology and nanoscience deal with materials that have particles within a size range of 1 to 100 nm and a high surface-to-volume ratio [ 1 ]. In general form, these particles are termed as nanoparticles (NPs) which exhibit highly controllable physical, chemical and biological properties in the atomic and sub-atomic levels. However, these unique features create opportunities to use them in different sectors such as electronics, optoelectronics, agriculture, communications, and biomedicine [ 2 , 3 ].

Although, several NPs are showing their effectiveness in different sectors of technology, but zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs have gained much more importance in the recent years due to their attractive and outstanding properties such as high chemical stability, high photostability, high electrochemical coupling coefficient and a wide range of radiation absorption [ 4 ]. Again, ZnO NPs are also recognized as n-type multi-functional semiconductor materials that have a wide band gap of 3.37 eV and exciton binding energy up to 60 meV even at room temperature [ 1 ]. Nowadays, ZnO NPs are predominantly used as antimicrobial agents, delivering systems vaccines and anti-cancer systems, photocatalyst, biosensors, energy generators and bio-imaging materials [ 5 – 7 ]. Among themselves, the photocatalytic application of ZnO NPs is significant. However, the photocatalytic performance of ZnO NPs can be significantly enhanced by adopting two ways. The first one involves the reduction of particle sizes by using efficient synthesis methods, while the second one involves the change of structural morphology by the incorporation of several elements (such as metal, non-metal, noble metal, transition metal, etc) into the crystal structure of ZnO NPs. However, in this work, we will proceed by adopting the first one.

Several fabrication techniques are used to produce ZnO NPs such as thermal hydrolysis techniques, hydrothermal processing, sol-gel method, vapor condensation method, spray pyrolysis and thermochemical techniques [ 8 ]. Nevertheless, recently a new synthesis method has been introduced and that is called biosynthesis scheme in which the NPs are prepared by using biological materials having significant reducing and stabilizing features. Moreover, NPs with variable size and shape can be achieved through this process.

Researchers proposed several possible plant extracts and fungal biomasses that were used in the green synthesis of ZnO NPs such as Aloe Barbadensis Miller (Aloe Vera) leaf extract [ 9 ], Poncirus trifoliate leaf extract [ 10 ], Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Carrot grass) leaf extract [ 11 ], Aspergillus aeneus [ 12 ], Calotropis procera latex [ 13 ], Sedum alfredii Hance [ 14 ], Physalis alkekengi L. [ 15 ], etc. However, the smaller particle size of ZnO NPs was observed by using Poncirus trifoliate leaf extract (8.48–32.51 nm), while for others, the results were satisfactory. In addition, another potential element for the preparation of ZnO NPs through the biosynthesis method is considered to be a leaf extract of Azadirachta indica (Neem leaf). The leaf extract contains highly active phytochemicals and enzymes that participate in the oxidation or reduction reactions that occur during the fabrication method and manipulate the bulk ZnO to convert into ZnO NPs [ 16 ]. Moreover, Neem leaf provides significant biological restrictions against bacterial growth and fungal growth [ 17 ].

The present study focused on the preparation of ZnO NPs by two different methods. The first one is the sol-gel method, while the second one is the biosynthesis method in which the Neem leaf extract was used as a mandatory element. A comparison of the properties (structural, antibacterial, photocatalytic and optical) between the two variants of ZnO NPs was performed. Here, the sol-gel synthesized and biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles were nominated as ZnO A NPs and ZnO B NPs respectively.

2. Methodology

2.1. materials.

All the starting raw materials including zinc acetate dihydrate [Zn(CH 3 COO) 2 .2H 2 O, Merck Specialties, India], sodium hydroxide [NaOH, Merck Specialties, India] and absolute ethanol [CH 3 CH 2 OH, Merck Specialties, Germany) were maintained at a high purity level (>99%). However, in the biosynthesis method, another raw material was also used and that was the leaf of Azadirachta indica (Neem leaf).

2.2. Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO A NPs) by sol-gel method

At first, 20 gm Zn(CH 3 COO) 2 .2H 2 O was mixed into 150 ml distilled water and stirred for 20 min at 35 °C to produce a zinc acetate solution. Again, 80 gm NaOH powder was weighed, mixed into 80 ml water and stirred for around 20 min at 35 °C for producing NaOH solution. After mixing both solutions, the titration reaction was performed by the addition of 100 ml ethanol into the drop-wise manner accompanied by vigorous stirring. The stirring was continued for around 90 min to complete the reaction for obtaining a gel-like product. Then the gel was dried at 80 °C overnight and calcined in an oven at 250 °C for 4 h. Finally, ZnO nanoparticles were prepared. However, the overall chemical reaction for the preparation of ZnO nanoparticles by using NaOH can be expressed as:

2.3. Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO B NPs) by biosynthesis method

At first, the neem (A. Indica) leaves were collected from the Azadirachta Indica trees on the campus of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh. After washing with distilled water, the leaves were dried into a dryer for 24 h. Then 20 gm dried leaves were smashed and mixed with 50 ml distilled water. After that, the mixture was stirred by a magnetic stirrer and heated at 60 °C for 1 h. As the mixture displayed a yellow color, it was filtered using the Whatman TM filter paper. However, the extract solution was used for further preparation of ZnO nanoparticles. The overall process for the preparation of Neem leaf extract is stereotyped in figure 1 .

Figure 1.  Process flow diagram for the preparation of Neem leaf extract.

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The next step included the preparation of the zinc acetate solution. For this, 21.94 gm Zn(CH 3 COO) 2 .2H 2 O was mixed into 50 ml water and stirred for 20 min at 35 °C. Similarly, in order to prepare a NaOH solution, 4 gm NaOH powder was added into 50 ml distilled water and simultaneously stirred for 20 min at 35 °C. Both solutions were then mixed by vigorous stirring. During this stirring process, the neem leaf extract was drop-wise mixed with the solution. As the addition of neem leaf continued, white precipitation of nanoparticles appeared. Then the solution was filtered and the filtered product was dried at 80 °C for 4 h. After that, the dried powder was calcined at 250 °C for 4 h and grounded to obtain the desired ZnO nanoparticles.

2.4. Characterization of ZnO NPs

X-ray diffraction was performed for structural analysis employing 40 kV-40 ma (scanning step of 0.02°) and Cu- K α radiation having wavelengths of K α 1  = 1.54060 Å, K α 2  = 1.54439 Å (Bruker Advance D8, Germany). Morphological characterization was accomplished by scanning electron microscopy (ZEISS EVO 18, UK). The optical properties were determined through UV–vis spectroscopy (SHIMADZU UV/Vis-1650 PC, Japan) into a range of 200–800 nm.

2.5. Antibacterial analysis of ZnO NPs

Escherichia coli bacteria were mainly involved in the determination of the antibacterial performance of ZnO NPs. Initially, the bacteria was stock-cultured in brain heart infusion (BHI) growth medium at −20 °C. Around 3 ml of BHI broth was added to 300 ml of stock-culture and preserved the culture overnight at 36 °C ± 1 °C for 24 h. After 24 h of incubation, dilution of the bacterial suspension (inoculum) was accomplished by using sterile saline. To indicate the bacterial growth during the test, a solution of 2-(4-iodophenyl)−3-(4-nitrophenyl)−5-phenyltetrazolium chloride (INT) in ethanol was added to the bacterial inoculum. Then the inoculum was distributed on a Mueller Hinton Agar Petri Dish in a consistent manner. After that, ZnO A NPs and ZnO B NPs were placed into the wells (prepared by cutting the agar gel) and the systems were preserved at 36 °C ± 1 °C for 24 h to allow successive incubation. After 24 h, the growth of bacteria was monitored and finally, the zone of inhibition for bacterial growth was determined in mm scale.

2.6. Photocatalytic analysis of ZnO NPs

The photocatalytic analysis was performed by monitoring the degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) dye due to ZnO NPs under the influence of UV radiation (having intensity ∼120 μ W cm −2 and wavelength ∼300–400 nm). At first, 5 gm NPs were added into MB solution and mixed properly. The mixture was placed in the dark for 2 h and then irradiated with UV rays with subsequent stirring action and at a variation of time (0, 40, 80, 120, 160, 200 min). The absorbance of the mixture was measured by UV–vis spectroscopy (SHIMADZU UV/Vis-1650 PC, Japan). The efficiency of photodegradation was measured by the following equation:

Where C 0 is the absorption of MB solution before the addition of ZnO NPs and C 1 is the absorption of the mixture solution with respect to time t.

ESR (electron spin resonance) analysis was performed using the EPR spectrometer (Bruker EMX MicroX, Germany) for the identification of the major factor that provides effective photocatalytic performance. During this characterization, DMPO (5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide) was used as a spin-trapped reagent in methanol and aqueous state. Moreover, the analysis was performed both in the presence and absence of light irradiation.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. effect analysis of neem leaf extract.

Neem leaf extract contains various phytochemicals such as flavones, quinines, organic acids, aldehyde and ketones which act as reducing agents and significantly reduces the particle sizes. After the successive reduction of particle sizes, the NPs are also affected by the terpenoids. Because of the interaction between the terpenoids and the ZnO NPs become stabilized as terpenoids are effective capping and stabilizing agents. The corresponding mechanism is graphically abstracted into figure 2 . Moreover, the possible seven types of terpenoids that are present in Neem leaf extract are stereotyped in figure 3 .

Figure 2.  Schematic representation of the mechanism of size reduction and stabilization of ZnO NPs during the biosynthesis fabrication scheme using Neem leaf extract.

Figure 3.  Chemical structures of different types of terpenoids subsisting in the Neem leaf extract.

3.2. X-ray diffraction analysis

Figure 4 represents the corresponding X-ray diffraction patterns of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel and bio-synthesis schemes respectively. The intense peaks at the crystal faces (100), (002), (101), (102), (110) assure the emergence of hexagonal wurtzite structure (as shown in figure 5 ) which belong to the space group of P6 3mc (JCPDS card no. 36-1451) [ 18 ]. The bio-synthesized ZnO nano-particles show more acute diffraction peak value introducing the appearance of the high percentage of crystalline phases. In addition, no impurity phases are present in the samples.

Figure 4.  XRD patterns of ZnO A and ZnO B NPs.

Figure 5.  Schematic wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO NPs.

However, considering the most severe diffraction peak (101), the crystallite size (D) can be calculated in accordance with the Debye Scherer formula [ 19 ]:

Hither, β is the Full Width at Half Maxima of the corresponding peak, k is a dimensionless shape factor (∼0.94), while λ is the wavelength of Cu K α radiation (1.54 Å) and ϴ is the Bragg angle. D is mainly the mean size of the ordered domains which is considered to be equal to the particle size (applicable for only particles less than 100 nm). So, the average particle size of ZnO A NPs and ZnO B NPs is 33.20 nm and 25.95 nm respectively [ 19 ]. Again, there remains an inverse relationship between the β and the D which means that narrower peaks are resulted due to larger particles while broader particles are obtained because of smaller particles. The ZnO NPs showed a good agreement with this statement.

Since the crystallite size can be further employed for the determination of defect concentration within the specimen which is designated as the dislocation density ( δ ) and the leading formulae is adopted for this purpose [ 20 ]:

From the exploration of diffraction data, the lattice constant (a & c), inter-planar spacing (d) and unit cell volume (V) of the specimens (table 1 ) can also be enumerated by utilizing the following formulas respectively [ 21 ]:

Where, h, k, l belong to Miller indices.

Table 1.   Structural information on ZnO A and ZnO B NPs.

Besides, the lengthening of the stricture (L) between Zn and O can be enumerated by the following equation [ 20 ]:

Where u corresponds to parameterized constant belonging to wurtzite structure and can be expressed as:

In accordance with the Williamson-Hall proposition, the lattice strain was calculated by adopting the undermentioned equation [ 20 ]:

Figure 6.  W-H plot of (a) ZnO A NPs and (b) ZnO B NPs for the measurement of lattice strain.

3.3. Morphological analysis

Figures 7 (a) and (b) shows the scanning electron micrographs of ZnO A and ZnO B NPs respectively. From the previous section, we have learned that the average particle size of ZnO B NPs (25.97 nm) is smaller than that of ZnO A NPs (33.20 nm). This can be also caused due to the presence of terpenoids in the Neem leaf extract. The terpenoid act not only as a stabilizing agent but also as a powerful reducing agent that interacts with ZnO NPs and reduces its size significantly [ 8 , 17 ]. Moreover, the maximum particles of ZnO A NPs remain between the range of 15 nm to 68 nm, whereas for ZnO B NPs the range lies from 10 nm to 70 nm.

Figure 7.  SEM micrographs of (a) ZnO A NPs and (b) ZnO B NPs.

3.4. Antibacterial activity

Antibacterial activity of ZnO A NPs and ZnO B NPs was analyzed by adopting the agar well diffusion method using Escherichia coli O157: H7 as the bacterial medium. Generally, there involve three mechanisms behind the interaction between the bacteria and the NPs. The first one involves the formation of extremely active hydroxyls and the second one involves the deposition of NPs on the bacteria surface. In addition, for the last one, the NPs accumulates in the cytoplasm or in the periplasmic region of bacteria cell which disrupts the cellular operations and simultaneously disorganizes the membrane. However, in consideration of E. coli , ZnO NPs firstly disorganize the membrane of E. coli and enters into the cytoplasmic region. Positioning themselves into the cytoplasm, the NPs neutralizes the respiratory enzymes and increases the emersion of cytoplasmic contents into the outward direction which impairs the membrane and finally kills the E. coli bacteria resulting in a zone of inhibition of bacterial growth around itself [ 3 , 23 ].

From figure 8 , it is observed that the zone of inhibition of bacterial growth due to ZnO A NPs is different from the zone of inhibition that is caused by ZnO B NPs. However, ZnO B NPs introduce a higher zone of inhibition than ZnO A nanoparticles and the measurements of the inhibition zone of bacterial growth are tabulated in table 2 . According to Krishna R Rangupathi, the antibacterial activity of nanoparticles is a size-dependent property and the property enhances with the reduction of particle size [ 23 ]. As the ZnO B NPs have smaller particle size as well as higher surface area, they show more antibacterial potential than that of ZnO A NPs [ 2 ].

Figure 8.  Antibacterial analysis of ZnO NPs showing the zone of inhibition of the growth of Escherichia coli O157: H7.

Table 2.   Antibacterial measurements of ZnO A NPs and ZnO B NPs.

3.5. Photocatalytic activity

Figure 9.  Degradation mechanism of MB dye by ZnO NPs under the influence of UV irradiation.

However, the corresponding reactions in the photodegradation scheme can be summarized as below [ 24 , 25 ]:

Figure 11 displays the discoloration of MB dye due to the photocatalytic action of ZnO NPs at different times (0, 40 and 120 min). However, figures 12 (a) and (b) illustrates the absorption spectra of MB dye as a function of wavelength under the influence of UV radiation at a variation of time i.e. 0, 40, 80, 120, 160, 200 min. From the graph, it is observed that the absorption rate of MB containing ZnO B NPs decreases more rapidly than that of ZnO A NPs. Moreover, the degradation efficiency ( η ) of ZnO NPs (biosynthesized and sol-gel synthesized) with respect to time is illustrated in figure 13 . The degradation of MB for sol-gel synthesized ZnO are 35.3%, 45.7%, 56.1% 62.4%, 68.9% at 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 min respectively. Again, the values for biosynthesized ZnO are 36.9%, 47.5%, 62.7%, 72.1%, and 80.2% at 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 min respectively. So, MB dye degraded more rapidly in the presence of ZnO B NPs backing the reason for smaller particle sizes than that of ZnO A NPs. As the particles become smaller, the active surface area for the photocatalysis increased which results in enhanced degradation of MB [ 26 ]. Moreover, there remain terpenoids in the neem leaf extract which stabilizes the nanoparticles by capping themselves which also causes in the increment of photocatalytic action [ 27 ].

Figure 11.  Visual inspection of the degradation phenomenon of MB dye by ZnO NPs.

Figure 12.  Absorption spectrum of (a) ZnO A NPs and (b) ZnO B NPs as a function of wavelength at 0, 40, 80, 120, 160, 200 min.

Figure 13.  The degradation efficiency of ZnO NPs for methylene blue dye with respect to time.

3.6. Optical analysis

Figures 14 (a) and (b) displays the room temperature absorption spectrum of ZnO nanoparticles fabricated by sol-gel and biosynthesis methods correspondingly. Here, the absorption wavelengths are remaining within the maximum allowable limit of the absorption band of bulk ZnO (∼373 nm). Although the absorption slightly increases up to a wavelength of 363 nm for ZnO A NPs, the maximum incremental value for ZnO B NPs is 356 nm. The slight shift of the absorption peak may be caused due to the variation of particle size and their configuration [ 28 ]. However, this phenomenon results in the presence of a wide range of particle size distribution of ZnO [ 29 ]. Moreover, the redshift of ZnO A NPs compared to ZnO B NPs corresponds to the formation of agglomeration in the specimens significantly. Furthermore, in accordance with Gunanlan Sangeetha et al the shifting of absorption band to the higher wavelength as well as higher energy was associated with the increment of the size of nanoparticles [ 30 ]. Moreover, considering the direct interband transition between the valence band and the conduction band, the absorption band gap energy was measured by adopting the following Tauc's formula [ 31 ]:

Where A is an energy-independent constant, α is the absorption coefficient, h υ is for the photon energy, and E g is the optical band gap energy. The E g of the ZnO NPs was obtained from the ( α h υ ) 2 versus h υ plot (as shown in the inset of figures 14 (a) and (b). Where the extrapolation of the linear segment of the graph to (α h υ ) 2  = 0 provides the value of E g for ZnO NPs. It is observed that the optical band gap energy of ZnO B NPs (3.25 eV) is higher than that of ZnO A NPs (3.23 eV). This incremental phenomenon is mainly attributed to the quantum confinement effect. According to this theory, as the particle size decreases, the electrons in the valence band and the holes in the conduction band confine themselves within a space having a dimension of the de Broglie wavelength. However, this confinement influences the quantization of the energy and the momentum of the corresponding carriers and also enhances the optical transition energy between the valence band and the conduction band resulting in a broad band gap [ 32 ].

Figure 14.  Absorption spectra of (a) ZnO A NPs and (b) ZnO B NPs (inset shows ( α h υ ) 2 versus h υ plot for the determination of band gap energy.

Figure 15 displays the UV visible transmittance spectrum of ZnO A NPs and ZnO B NPs. Here, the transparency of ZnO B NPs is greater than that of ZnO due to the reduced particle size of ZnO B NPs. From the research of Takuya Tsuzuki, it is clear that smaller particles are capable to show higher transparency at the visible range of spectrum [ 33 ]. However, the UV blocking characteristics are almost similar for each of the variants of NPs.

Figure 15.  Typical transmittance spectra of ZnO NPs.

4. Conclusion

In summary, ZnO NPs were synthesized by two different methods i.e., sol-gel and biosynthesis method. The green synthesis of ZnO NPs allows avoiding the toxic chemical agents that are used in the sol-gel method for the size reduction. However, the Neem leaf extract possesses some phytochemicals which not only performs in the reduction of the particle sizes but also provide sufficient stabilization. Although, the average particle size of ZnO B NPs (25.97 nm) was smaller than that of ZnO A NPs (33.20 nm), the optical band gap energy of ZnO B NPs was higher than that of ZnO A NPs due to the quantum confinement effect. In addition, the antibacterial and photocatalytic properties of ZnO B NPs were greater than that of ZnO A NPs. Where, the zone of inhibition of bacterial growth for ZnO B NPs was 14.5 mm and for ZnO A NPs, it was 9.3 mm. Moreover, the degradation efficiency of ZnO B NPs at 200 min was 80% while for ZnO A NPs, the corresponding efficiency was 68%. Again, from the ESR analysis, it was proved that the OH · radicals were the main contributing factor for the degradation of MB dye. So, based on the comparison between the properties of the two variants, it is concluded that the biosynthesis method shows more effectiveness than the sol-gel method for the synthesis of ZnO NPs.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET) for providing the opportunity to perform various tests. Special thanks go to Tasmia Zaman, Assistant Professor, Department of Glass & Ceramic Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh for her cordial assistance.

Green synthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts: a review

• Published: 13 August 2020
• Volume 19 , pages 355–374, ( 2021 )

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• Sapana Jadoun   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3572-7934 1 ,
• Rizwan Arif 1 ,
• Nirmala Kumari Jangid 2 &
• Rajesh Kumar Meena 3  

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Green synthesis of nanoparticles has many potential applications in environmental and biomedical fields. Green synthesis aims in particular at decreasing the usage of toxic chemicals. For instance, the use of biological materials such as plants is usually safe. Plants also contain reducing and capping agents. Here we present the principles of green chemistry, and we review plant-mediated synthesis of nanoparticles and their recent applications. Nanoparticles include gold, silver, copper, palladium, platinum, zinc oxide, and titanium dioxide.

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Abbreviations.

4-Amino phenol

Brunauer–Emmett–Teller

Dynamic light scattering

2,4-Dinitrophenilhydrazine

Energy-dispersive spectroscopy

Field emission scanning electron microscopy

Fourier transform infrared

Graphene oxide

Methylene blue

Methyl orange

4-Nitrophenol

Rhodamine B

Reduced graphene oxide

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Tannery wastewater

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Jadoun, S., Arif, R., Jangid, N.K. et al. Green synthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts: a review. Environ Chem Lett 19 , 355–374 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-020-01074-x

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a Department of Botany, Mizoram University, Tanhril, Aizawl, Mizoram, India

b Department of Chemistry, Govt. Zirtiri Residential Science College, Aizawl, Mizoram, India

c Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar, India E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected]

d Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia

e Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK

Synthesis of metal nanoparticles using plant extracts is one of the most simple, convenient, economical, and environmentally friendly methods that mitigate the involvement of toxic chemicals. Hence, in recent years, several eco-friendly processes for the rapid synthesis of silver nanoparticles have been reported using aqueous extracts of plant parts such as the leaf, bark, roots, etc. This review summarizes and elaborates the new findings in this research domain of the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using different plant extracts and their potential applications as antimicrobial agents covering the literature since 2015. While highlighting the recently used different plants for the synthesis of highly efficient antimicrobial green AgNPs, we aim to provide a systematic in-depth discussion on the possible influence of the phytochemicals and their concentrations in the plants extracts, extraction solvent, and extraction temperature, as well as reaction temperature, pH, reaction time, and concentration of precursor on the size, shape and stability of the produced AgNPs. Exhaustive details of the plausible mechanism of the interaction of AgNPs with the cell wall of microbes, leading to cell death, and high antimicrobial activities have also been elaborated. The shape and size-dependent antimicrobial activities of the biogenic AgNPs and the enhanced antimicrobial activities by synergetic interaction of AgNPs with known commercial antibiotic drugs have also been comprehensively detailed.

• This article is part of the themed collections: 2021 Reviews in RSC Advances , Chemistry in the battle against infections and Synthesis of nanomaterials

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• Correction: green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using plant extracts and the…

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C. Vanlalveni, S. Lallianrawna, A. Biswas, M. Selvaraj, B. Changmai and S. L. Rokhum, RSC Adv. , 2021,  11 , 2804 DOI: 10.1039/D0RA09941D

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