ZnO and Simonkolleite Nanocomposite Synthesis via Green Chemistry Using Hibiscus Flower Extract

Abstract

In the present work, zinc oxide (ZnO) and Simonkolleite (SK) nanocomposite was prepared using a facile green synthesis route, using hibiscus flower extract. Zinc chloride as starting solution was mixed with hibiscus plant extract. The zinc salt molarity was varied in order to investigate its effect on the synthetized nanocomposite structure. The synthetized nanocomposite were characterized by mean of X-rays diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the zinc chloride molarity plays a key role in zinc oxide and simonkolleite nanopowder synthesis. The increase in zinc salt molarity above 0.1 M yields to a pure simonkolleite. While, at low zinc salt molarity, the formed nanoparticles are composed of mixture of simonkolleite and ZnO. The thermal treatment causes a partial conversion of simonkolleite to ZnO.