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

This study was conducted to examine the synthesis of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles, using the hydroethanolic extract of Citrus aurantium flowers, through the application of Iron chlorides, (II) and (III), and Zinc Acetate. The as-synthesized ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles was adequately dispersed and stabilized in an aqueous solution through biological ligands extracted from C. aurantium flowers, a widely distributed plant used in the folk medicine. The active groups existing in the crude extract particularly the polyphenol compounds act like reducers and stabilizers to synthesis of nanoparticles. The synthesized magnetic nanoparticles have been identified using various practical techniques, including UV–Vis spectroscopy, TEM, DLS, XRD, FT-IR, XPS analyses, etc. The EDS and FT-IR methods were capable of detecting the presence of the Zinc element inside the nanocomposite structure. 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 FT-IR and TEM techniques confirmed the presence of polyphenols on the surface of ZnFe2O4 ferrite. Meanwhile, the XRD and TEM results indicated that both degree of crystallinity and particle size of the materials increased with an increase in the precipitation temperature.