Sakarya Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Dergisi, cilt.28, sa.5, ss.984-999, 2024 (Hakemli Dergi)
The environmentally friendly plant-based green synthesis approach provides a fabulous opportunity to produce versatile zinc oxide powders with multifarious morphology and/or size. In this study, it was mainly aimed at using Polygonum cognatum Meisn. extract to synthesize zinc oxide powder via a simple green synthesis route. For this purpose, zinc nitrate solution was mixed with an aqueous extract of fresh Polygonum cognatum Meisn. plant leaves to obtain a zinc-based precursor, and then zinc oxide powder was synthesized by means of calcination conducted at 400°C for 2 hours in air. Phase, spectroscopic, and microstructural analysis techniques, as well as Rietveld refinement method and Williamson-Hall analysis, were performed to investigate the powder characteristics. It was found that the synthesized high-purity zinc oxide powder had a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure. Zinc oxide powder was observed to have a particularly large amount of nano-sized equiaxed particles (~25 nm in average diameter) together with micron-sized hourglass-like particles consisting of two hexagonal prisms (each <1 μm in height). All in all, the main implication of our research is that the Polygonum cognatum Meisn. plant can be potentially used as a biomass source for the green synthesis of zinc oxide nano/microparticles.