Green route biosynthesis: Characterization and catalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles

• Synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanoparticles by the biosynthesis method.
• The eco-friendly, inexpensive and chemically stable catalyst was used for the condensation of 3, 4 dimethyl benzaldehyde and acetophenone.
• Zno nanoparticle size range 8.48–32.51 nm.

In this paper, we report on the synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) by biological method and its utility as catalyst in Claisen Schmidt Condensation reaction has been described. ZnO NPs were characterized by UV–Visible absorption spectroscopy, FTIR, TGA, GC–MS, XRD, SEM–EDX and TEM techniques. The UV–Visible absorption spectrum shows an absorption band at 327 nm due to ZnO NPs. TEM analysis shows ZnO NPs particle size in the range of 8.48–32.51 nm. The eco-friendly, inexpensive and chemically stable catalyst was used for the condensation of 3, 4-dimethyl benzaldehyde and acetophenone.