Green Synthesis of Ag2S/ZnS Composites and Their Application for Seeds Germination to Explore Critical Aspect

The production of cost-effective and eco-friendly nanoparticles has gained significant attention from the scientific community around the globe for promising applications in the food industry. In the present work, Silver Sulfide (Ag2S), Zinc Sulfide (ZnS) and their composites Ag2S/ZnS were prepared using green synthesis via the extract of cantharanthus roesus leaves. These nanoparticles are then characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction, and UV–visible spectroscopy to study the surface morphology, compositional, structural and optical properties respectively. The results depict that the average size of particles of Ag2S, ZnS and their composites Ag2S/ZnS is 30.0 ± 1.5 nm, 37.0 ± 1.2 nm and 32.0 ± 2.3 nm, respectively. The prepared non-toxic nanoparticles have been used for the different germination tests and also investigated the root length of Oryza Sativa and Triticum seeds. This study also reveals that these nanoparticles have a significant effect on the germination percentage and Root length of the seeds. Moreover, the applications of prepared nanostructures on seeds present strong dependence on the concentration of the Silver Sulfide nanoparticles, Zinc Sulfide nanoparticles and their composites Ag2S/ZnS. It is worth mentioning that due to the cost-effectiveness and environment-friendly nature, this synthesis method is simple and easy to synthesize highly required metallic sulphides that find many promising applications in daily life.