Novel, facile and first time synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using leaves extract of Citrus reticulata for photocatalytic and antibacterial activity

Water contamination caused by the organic pollutants and microorganism is the serious risk towards the human life and aquatic ecosystem that can be addressed by active and environment-friendly nanoparticles. In current work, Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have been synthesized first time by utilizing leaves extract of Citrus reticulata via facile, cost effective and ecofriendly green approach. Moreover, the influence of leaves extract concentration on properties of synthesized nanoparticles was also inspected. Various characterization techniques results affirmed that the synthesized ZnO-NPs have hexagonal crystalline structure with size range of 43.05–30.67 nm and band gap of 3.26–3.15 eV. Variation in the leaves extract concentration affected the morphology and optical properties of the green synthesized NPs. Further, the synthesized ZnO-NPs were employed as a photocatalyst for photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye. ZnO-NPs were also employed as antibacterial agent against gram-positive (S. aureus) and gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria where they exhibited appreciable antibacterial activity. Therefore, the novel, facile and green synthesized ZnO-NPs are promising for simultaneous removal of organic pollutants and bacteria from polluted water.