article · RSC Advances
Zinc oxide nanoparticles were biologically synthesised using leaf extracts from Polyalthia longifolia, avoiding hazardous reducing or capping chemicals. The resulting nanomaterials were characterised and assessed for both antifungal and photocatalytic performance. Laboratory assays demonstrated that the nanoparticles inhibit the radial growth of the fungal crop pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris, with fungal inhibition increasing as the nanoparticle concentration was raised from 100 ppm to 300 ppm. In addition, the nanoparticles effectively broke down methylene blue dye in water under both ultraviolet light and natural sunlight. Across four successive testing cycles, the material demonstrated durable stability, achieving roughly 83 to 84 percent dye degradation under natural sunlight and 87 to 92 percent degradation under ultraviolet exposure within 90 minutes. The results present a green, biocompatible method for producing nanoparticles with dual functional utility.
Fungal plant diseases reduce agricultural yields, while industrial dye discharge poses severe environmental concerns. Conventional nanoparticle manufacturing often relies on toxic chemicals. Developing green synthesis routes using common plant extracts provides a safer, biocompatible alternative. These dual-action nanoparticles offer promising utility for sustainable crop protection against fungal pathogens and clean-technology approaches to degrading organic pollutants using natural sunlight.
The material could enable products for agricultural pest control, specifically targeting fungal wilt pathogens, as well as photocatalytic systems for wastewater remediation. Potential industrial users include agrochemical manufacturers and industrial effluent treatment operators. Based on the abstract, this technology is at an early experimental stage, having been verified only in laboratory-scale dye degradation tests and in vitro fungal assays rather than in field or industrial settings.
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The biological synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) from plant extracts has emerged as a novel method for producing NPs with great scalability and biocompatibility. The present study is focused on bio-fabricated zinc oxide nanomaterial characterization and investigation of its photocatalytic and antifungal activities. ZnO NPs were biosynthesized using the leaf extract of <i>Polyalthia longifolia</i> without using harmful reducing or capping chemicals, which demonstrated fungicidal activity against <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>ciceris</i>. The results showed that the inhibition of the radial growth of <i>F</i>. <i>oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>ciceris</i> was enhanced as the concentration increased from 100 ppm to 300 ppm. The effectiveness of the photocatalytic activity of biosynthesized ZnO NPs was analyzed using MB dye degradation in aqueous medium under ultraviolet (UV) radiation and natural sunlight. After four consecutive cycles, the photocatalytic degradation of MB was stable and was 84%, 83%, 83%, and 83%, respectively, during natural sunlight exposure. Under the UV sources, degradation reached 92%, 89%, 88%, and 87%, respectively, in 90 minutes. This study suggests that the ZnO NPs obtained from plant extract have outstanding photocatalytic and antifungal activities against <i>F. oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>ciceris</i> and have the potential for application as a natural pest control agent to reduce pathogenesis.
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DOI: 10.1039/d4ra01035c
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