Plant-mediated synthesis of ZnO nanomaterials using pumpkin flower (Cucurbita pepo) extract and its antibacterial and photocatalytic properties

Nanomaterials have drawn a lot of attention due to their plentiful intriguing features and large surface area-to-volume ratio. In recent trends, the purification of water through eco-friendly and affordable techniques is a pressing issue for scientists. Therefore, the present work reports the biogenic synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using pumpkin flower (Cucurbita pepo or C. pepo) extract for antibacterial and photocatalytic performance. The structural, optical properties, chemical composition, functional groups, and morphology of obtained ZnO NPs were analyzed by XRD, UV–visible spectroscopy, EDS, SEM, TEM, and FTIR. The XRD results confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure, while the SEM and TEM images revealed a globular morphology with few agglomerations of synthesized ZnO NPs. The UV–Vis spectra exhibited the maximum absorbance at 370 nm, with a bandgap of 2.67 eV. Moreover, the antibacterial effectiveness of prepared ZnO NPs was tested against E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and B. subtilis. Additionally, the photocatalytic activity of ZnO NPs was evaluated against methylene blue (MB) dye.