Effects of varying drying treatments of Cydonia Oblonga leaves on the green synthesis and characterization of CaO nanoparticles

The impact of varying drying treatments of Cydonia Oblonga leaves on nanoparticle synthesis is regarded as a novel approach. In this study, the green synthesis of calcium oxide nanoparticles (CaO NPs) from Cydonia oblonga leaves subjected to varying drying treatments, which are fresh, partially dried, and fully dried leaves, using calcium nitrate tetrahydrate, Ca(NO₃)₂·4H₂O (CaN), as the precursor at room temperature, followed by calcination at 500 °C have been investigated. FTIR of the extracts exhibited different phytochemicals, which play a crucial role for tailoring the nature of the nanoparticles. FESEM revealed that the degree of leaves drying significantly influenced on nanoparticle morphology, and the average particle sizes of CaO NPs synthesized using fresh, partially dried, and fully dried extracts were 45.76 nm, 32.90 nm, and 21.40 nm, respectively. EDX confirmed the purity of CaO NPs, with Ca and O as the main elements detected in varying atomic ratios. XRD verified the crystalline cubic phase structure of CaO NPs from fresh, partially dried, and dried leaf extracts, with average crystallite sizes of 25.26, 20.56, and 15.95 nm, respectively. The bandgap energies of CaO NPs were determined to be 4.50, 4.30, and 4.47 eV. These findings obviously have proven that the nanoparticle nucleation, growth, and characteristics such as size, shape, crystallinity, stability, dislocation density, and lattice parameters are strongly influenced by the degree of drying treatment applied to the plant leaves. These properties are highly valuable for a wide range of uses in various disciplines, such as environmental and medical technologies.