Characterization of Green Synthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles from Two Quercus species Leaf Extracts Based on Their Phytochemical Profiles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32792/utq/utjsci/v13i1.1504Keywords:
Oak, green synthesis, nanoparticle, flavonoids, phenolsAbstract
The variation, in the secondary metabolite profile of trees is greatly affected by the climatic conditions. The main aim of the study was to compare the phytochemical profiles of Quercus brantii and Quercus infectoria leaves and evaluate their effectiveness in green synthesis of ZnO NPs. Phytochemical variation of leaves of two abundant oak species in Barzewa forest, Q. brantii and Q. infectoria leaves has been examined and the role of their aqueous leaf extract in green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles has been studied. Q. brantii leaves was significantly higher in total phenol and flavonoid contents (10.50 and 0.267 mg/g) compared to Q. infectoria (8.41 and 0.026 mg/g) respectively. While, tannin content did not differ significantly between the two species. Both species’ role was confirmed as reducing and stabilizing co- factors in the conversion of ZnO metal oxide to nano ZnO. UV–visible spectroscopic analysis verified successful synthesis with a specific ZnO NPs peak absorbance at 370.4 nm for Q. brantii and 374 nm for Q. infectoria. In both species a consistent peak at 399.35 cm⁻¹ evidenced the presence of Zn–O stretching vibration in Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Whereas X-Ray Diffraction spectroscope (XRD) confirmed wurtzite hexagonal structure crystals for both species. ZnO- mediated by Q. brantii leaves yielded a smaller crystallite size 27.55 nm compared to Q. infectoria, which produced ZnO NPs with 46.12 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that smaller, more homogeneous particles were generated with Q. brantii, with an average diameter of 46.11 nm.
Received: 23-10-2025
Revised: 07-12-2025
Accepted: 20-12-2025
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