Green Synthesis of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Using Melia azedarach Leaf Extract and Evaluation

Abstract

The present study reports the green synthesis and characterization of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were synthesized via the sol-gel method using an aqueous extract of Melia azedarach leaves. The synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles were characterized using various analytical techniques, including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), UV–Visible Spectroscopy (UV–Vis), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX). XRD analysis was conducted to determine the crystalline nature of the TiO₂ nanoparticles. SEM and TEM were used to study the shape and size of the nanoparticles. SEM images revealed spherical nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 25 nm to 87 nm, while TEM analysis showed sizes in the range of 15–45 nm. The XRD patterns displayed peaks at 25.36°, 26.54°, 37.05°, 37.78°, 38.54°, 48.12°, 54.02°, and 55.04°, corresponding to the (101), (110), (004), (103), and other crystal planes of anatase and rutile phases of TiO₂.UV–Vis spectra of the green-synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles were recorded using a Shimadzu UV-2450 PC dual-beam spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 200–900 nm. EDAX analysis was used to determine the chemical composition and confirm the crystalline nature of the synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles. It is generally known that TiO₂ exhibits characteristic optical absorption peaks in the range of 4.3–5.3 keV, attributed to surface plasmon resonance.