A novel bio-fabrication of ZnO nanoparticles using cow urine and study of their photocatalytic, antibacterial and antioxidant activities

Abstract In recent years, nanomaterials have piqued the interest of the research community due to intriguing claims in a variety of areas, the primary focus being the mode and methods of synthesis of applicative materials. Numerous methods are now used in the production of various nanomaterials, and these processes have an impact on their properties. Considering that we describe a novel biogenic approach for the synthesis of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using cow urine as a reducing and stabilizing agent, the confirmation and characterization of the synthesized material were accomplished using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The primary confirmation of bio-fabrication of ZnO NPs was done with UV-DRS and the bandgap was found to be 2.96 keV. The Wurtzite structure with 3.99 nm size was confirmed by the XRD pattern, whereas the morphology and purity were confirmed via SEM and EDX techniques. Furthermore, the disc diffusion method's antibacterial activity of characterized ZnO NPs was tested against different bacterial strains. The radical scavenging activity was studied using the OH and DPPH assays.