Jute stick extract assisted hydrothermal synthesis of zinc oxide nanoflakes and their enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial efficacy

In this paper, we used green and hydrothermal methodology to prepare zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoflakes (NFs) with jute stick extract (J–ZnO NFs) as growth substrate. The prepared materials were characterized using different analytical techniques including ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The characteristic absorption peak for ZnO NFs and J–ZnO NFs were observed from the UV–vis spectrum at 373 and 368 nm respectively. The hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO NFs and J–ZnO NFs was confirmed by XRD analysis. FESEM and TEM analyses of synthesized J–ZnO NFs confirmed their NFs shape and collectively flower-like structure formation by…