Photocatalytic remediation of Congo red and Pharmacological properties of Solidago canadensis L.mediated biogenic synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles

In this study, biogenically mediated Sc -ZnO nano-sized particles were produced via leaf extract of S. canadensis L. of the Asteraceae Family and characterized through sophisticated techniques. Optical analysis through UV- vis . spectroscopy revealed formation of Sc -ZnO NPs with peak at 372 nm with calculated bandgap of 3.42 eV. Further, FTIR produced clear signals of participation of phytochemicals. Morphologically, aggregated flaky-structures and elemental composition was revealed through FESEM + EDS and the average size was deduced by TEM. XRD fallouts determined crystal structure of zinc oxide and the average crystallite size of 20.94 nm was deduced. The antibacterial potential and MIC against bacterial pathogens were analysed employing disc-diffusion method and micro-broth dilution assay respectively. Antioxidant potential and IC ₅₀ of the fabricated ZnO was analysed using DPPH assay. Furthermore, the application of fabricated nanoparticles was studied for the photocatalytic degradation of Congo-red. We observed 91.2% degradation efficiency with a first-order rate of reaction of -k = -0.0398. The fabricated Sc-ZnO nanoparticles proved effective degradation of hazardous textile effluents with potential antibacterial nature.