Sustainable Fabrication of Nanoparticles from Moringa oleifera Leaves and Their Efficiency During Photocatalytic Degradation of MO and MG Dyes
J. Environ. Nanotechnol., Volume 15, No 3 (September 2026) pp. 578-586
Abstract
The ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have good photocatalytic activity, but the traditional methods require the use of harmful chemicals, necessitating green methods for the synthesis of ZnO NPs. Now, in light of this research gap, the present study aims to synthesize ZnO NPs using Moringa oleifera leaf extract and investigate the structural characteristics of the synthesized ZnO NPs, as well as their photocatalytic activity in the degradation of synthetic dyes. ZnO NPs were synthesized using the plant extract as a reducing agent and to stabilize the nanoparticles. The prepared ZnO NPs were characterized by UV-Vis, XRD, and EDX techniques in order to investigate the optical characteristics, crystallinity, and elemental surface composition of the prepared ZnO NPs, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared ZnO NPs was tested by the degradation of two textile dyes, namely MO and MG, under visible light illumination with different concentrations of the catalyst (10, 20, and 30 mg). The kinetic study of the photocatalytic activity of the prepared ZnO NPs was also assessed using zero-order, first-order, and second-order reaction models. The XRD result confirmed the formation of highly crystalline hexagonal ZnO NPs without any impurities (JCPDS 36-1451). The photocatalytic activity of the prepared ZnO NPs showed good activity in the degradation of the two textile dyes, with 76% of MO and 91% of MG being degraded by the ZnO NPs with a 30 mg dosage. Moringa Oleifera enables eco-friendly, low-cost, phytochemical-mediated ZnO nanoparticle synthesis efficiently.
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