Effect of orange fruit peel extract concentration on the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

In this investigation, the impact of reducing agent concentration on the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) was examined. During the synthesis, an assessment of ionic conductivity was carried out, revealing a significant increase in conductivity prior to the introduction of the reducing agent, followed by a sharp decrease upon its addition. Characterization of the ZnO NPs involved ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and, X-ray diffraction analysis. The outcomes suggest that the characteristics of the ZnO NPs are influenced by the concentration of the reducing agent during the synthesis process. Notably, the ZnO NPs synthesized with a higher concentration of reducing agent exhibited a narrower optical band gap and increased surface energy. Furthermore, employing a concentration of 0.5 v/v resulted in the rapid production of NPs with relatively uniform sizes. Conversely, concentrations below 0.5 v/v lead to slow formation, while concentrations exceeding 0.5 v/v yielded non-uniform NPs.