Sonam Dawar - School of Studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry, vikram University, Ujjain.
Darshana Mehta - School of Studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry, Vikram University, Ujjain
B. K. Mehta - School of Studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry, Vikram University, Ujjain.

This paper emphasizes on the comparative studies of Ficus (Ficusbenghalensis) bounded zinc oxide nanoparticles using conventional and microwave heating methods. Zinc oxide can be called a versatile material due to its unique physical and chemical properties. The resultant synthesized nanoparticle prepared using the conventional heating method and microwave heating method was termed as A-ZnO and B-ZnO nanoparticles respectively. The current study investigates the possible utilization of aerial roots of Ficus for the preparation of ZnO nanoparticles using zinc chloride as source material and sodium hydroxide as precipitant which involves a self-sustained reaction in a homogeneous solution. The resultant nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Dynamic Light Scattering, Zeta potential, Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive, X-Ray analysis and Transmission Electron Microscopy. ZnO nanoparticles prepared from both methods using conventional and microwave-assisted heating were compared. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized for their surface morphology. Further, the antibacterial activity of the extract and both ZnO NPs were evaluated against the standard and clinical strain of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by the agar well diffusion method. The results unveiled that the prepared ZnO NPs shows excellent antibacterial activity against the examined microorganisms. The overall study suggests that the root extract of the Ficus plant could work as an excellent bio-resource for producing ZnO NPs.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles, microwave heating, X-ray diffraction, Dynamic Light Scattering, Antibacterial Activity