Synthesis and characerization of Zro2 nanoparticle by leaf extract bioreduction process for its biological studies

The aim of the present work is to produce zirconium oxide nano particles by the aqueous extract of plant leaves as a powerful capping and reducing agent. The prominent feature of this research is, it provides an alternate approach to conventional chemical synthesis and thus minimizes its adverse effects on the environment. The synthesized nanoparticles were subjected to various characterization techniques using UV-Visible spectrophotometer, FTIR Spectroscopy, SEM with EDAX and X-ray diffraction analysis. The preliminary confirmation of the synthesized nano zirconia was done by observing its absorbance maxima from UV-Visible Spectroscopy which was further justified from the characteristic peaks of FTIR analysis. SEM micrograph potrayed that the prepared nano zirconia was slightly spherical in shape with smooth and fused surface. The purity of the manufactured nano material was affirmed from the EDAX peaks without any unidentified signal. The sharp and narrower peaks from XRD exemplified the significant enhancement in the crystalline nature of the prepared nano zirconia. Biological studies such as antibacterial, and antioxidant activities were evaluated for the green synthesised nano zirconia. The manufactured nanoparticles expressed higher antibacterial activity towards both gram negative bacteria and gram positive bacteria. It also exhibited 69% radical scavenging activity which was determined by DPPH assay. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the very few studies on the preparation of ZrO2 nanoparticles by bio-based method using plant extract for its antibacterial and in vitro antioxidant studies. The future work is focussed on the investigation of anti cancerous activity for the same nanoparticle. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.