Utilization of banana peels extracts in the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles

One of the economical and environmentally friendly methods to treat wastewater is photocatalysis using metal oxides as a catalyst. ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NP) are nanoparticles that can be relied on as photocatalyst due to its wide bandgap, namely 3.37 eV. One of synthesis methods of ZnO NP that has been widely developed is the chemical method. But this method is burdened with various problems including the use of hazardous chemicals and high energy consumption. To overcome this problem, Green Synthesis offer an alternative way that can reduce the use of synthetic chemicals. Green synthesis method utilizes environmentally friendly materials such as plant extracts instead of synthetic chemicals. Extracts of banana (Musa sapientum) peels is one of the wastes containing secondary metabolites compounds that is thought to be able to act as a capping agent. Capping agent has an important role in the process of nanoparticles synthesis. For this reason, ZnO NP synthesis was carried out in this research using three types of banana peels extracts as a capping agent. The purpose of this study was to identify the type of secondary metabolites in banana peels extracst samples and used the extracts in the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles. XRD analysis data showed that ZnO NP has been successfully synthesized based on ICSD 155780 with a crystallite size in the range of 18.86-20.72nm depending on the concentration of secondary metabolites. The particles produced in this study are expected to be useful as photocatalysts in wastewater treatment.