Comparative Study of Sol-Gel and Green Synthesis Technique Using Orange Peel Extract to Prepare TiO2 Nanoparticles

Abstract

Plant extracts have been widely explored as a safer alternative to conventional procedures for the manufacture of metal oxide nanoparticles. The present research concentrated on the synthesis and characterization of Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂NPs) using an environmentally friendly green synthesis approach (orange peel extract) compared with another technique (Sol-Gel method) at room temperature. The TiO₂ nanoparticles were analyzed using an X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to determine the polycrystalline with Tetragonal structure anatase phase and  average crystallite size 30.2 nm and 24.2nm of the sample prepared from Sol-gel and green methods respectively. FTIR spectroscopy was used to determine the functional groups of TiO₂ nanoparticles and their bonding nature. UV-Vis for optical properties shows the band gap energy of 2.85 eV and 3 eV for TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared using sol-gel and green methods respectively. FESEM analysis identified the morphology of the surface of TiO₂ nanoparticles with the diameters of nanoparticles in the range of 60-80 nm  and 75-85 nm  were prepared via sol-gel and green methods respectively.