Biosynthesis of Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles Using Polyphenol-rich extract of Citrus aurantium flowers

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the synthesis of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles, using the hydroethanolic extract of Citrus aurantium flowers, through the application of FeCl2.4H2O, FeCl3.6H2O, and Zinc Acetate. The present piece of work is regarded important especially when ascertaining the potential of a widely distributed underused mangrove associated plant, C. aurantium, as used in the folk medicine. The as-prepared ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles was adequately dispersed and stabilized in an aqueous solution through biological ligands extracted from C. aurantium flowers. The functional groups existing in the bio-ligands of the crude extract particularly the polyphenol compounds act like reducing and stabilizing agents in the formation of nanoparticles. The synthesized magnetic nanoparticles have been characterized using different modern techniques, such as UV–Visible spectroscopy, HR-TEM, DLS, XRD, FT-IR, XPS analyses, etc. The EDS and FT-IR methods were capable of detecting the presence of the Zn element inside the structure of nanocomposite. However, magnetic properties of the Zn ferrite materials are reduced significantly due to the agglomeration, particularly in aqueous solution. In this research, it was attempted to synthesize polyphenol coated Zn ferrite through the green synthesis method in order to prevent agglomeration among the nanoparticles. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the presence of polyphenols on the surface of ZnFe2O4 ferrite. The XRD and FESEM results showed that both the degree of crystallinity and particle size of the materials increased with an increase in the precipitation temperature.