Biosynthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles using peel extract of Parkia speciosa for methyl orange degradation

Recent research on the biosynthesisof nanoparticles has used plant rather than other biomaterials. In this work, a simpler and environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles using Parkia speciosa peel extract (P-TiO2 NPs) was carried out. The synthesized TiO2 was characterized by XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, SAED, FTIR, UV-DRS and Zeta analyzer. The XRD and SAED data indicated the crystalline and tetragonal anatase TiO2 phase. HR-TEM and FE-SEM analysis proved that the obtained P-TiO2 had a spherical shape with nano-sized particlesof 8.56 nm. The zeta potential data showed that P-TiO2 was a stable particle. According to the FTIR spectra, the phytochemical components contained in the peel extract were responsible for the reducing and capping agents in TiO2 formation. In addition, the P-TiO2 had photocatalytic activity and completely degraded the methyl orange dye (97.99%). This study shows that the waste of Parkia speciosa could be a potential reducing and capping agents in the synthesis of TiO2 NPs for wastewater treatment.