Author: Darshan Singh, Anuradha , Divya Mathur , Amar Kumar, Surendra Kumar , Balaram Pani , Rajni Kanojia and Jyotsna Ratan

DOI: http://doi.org/10.31788/RJC.2022.1558177

Uncoated ZnO and calcium-coated ZnO nanoparticles (Ca-ZnO) were biologically synthesized using cucumber juice as a reducing and capping agent. Cucumber belongs to Cucurbitaceae family, is rich in water content and possesses antioxidant activity. The chemical composition and morphology of the synthesized NPs were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrophotometer (EDS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD)and FT-IR. The spherical as well as hexagonal-shaped ZnO nanoparticles were obtained in the size range of 4-70 nm. Coated and uncoated ZnO nanoparticles were evaluated for their photo degradability of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB) dyes. They showed nearly 100% photodegradation of methylene blue in lesser time, however, showed minimum degradation of rhodamine B dye. Calcium coating over ZnO NPs enhanced their photocatalytic properties.

Keywords: Cucumber Juice, Methylene Blue, Rhodamine Blue, Biological Method, ZnO NPs, Photocatalysts