Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles from camellia sinensis: Organic dye degradation and antibacterial activity

In this paper, we report to green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) from the plant extract (Camellia sinensis) by using the hot plat combustion method (HPCM). The XRD analysis validates that ZnO NPs have a hexagonal wurtzite structure, without the formation of any other impurity and secondary phases. FE-SEM images show the synthesis of zinc oxide includes spherical rods of ZnO NPs with the least size range of 10-20 nm and elements present in the biologically green synthesized ZnO NPs confirmed by EDAX mapping. Synthesized ZnO NPs photocatalytic activity was evaluated by degrading methyl orange (MO) dye and degradation of 80 % using 0.5 g ZnO NPs for 180 min irradiation time. Further, the antibacterial property of ZnO NPs was evaluated against two different strains of bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli; however, the antibacterial efficiency of ZnO NPs effective against E. coli compared to S. aureus.