Solanum trilobatum-mediated ZnO nanoparticles for antibacterial, cytotoxicity and photocatalytic degradation applications

The present study reports the phytogenic synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using aqueous leaf extract of Solanum trilobatum and their comprehensive physicochemical characterization and biological evaluation. The XRD analysis confirmed high crystallinity with a crystallite size of 33.20 nm, while SEM and TEM analyses revealed spherical and hexagonal morphologies, and FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the role of phytoconstituents in surface capping and stabilization. The synthesized ZnO NPs exhibited potent antibacterial activity both independently and in synergy with standard antibiotics, with Escherichia coli being the most susceptible strain (inhibition zone: 17 ± 1.79 mm). Anticancer evaluation against the PANC-1 cell line yielded an IC 50 of 271.1 ± 2.43 μg/mL, notably lower than values reported for conventionally synthesized ZnO NPs, indicating enhanced bioactivity from phytochemical surface functionalization. Besides their biological activities, the nanoparticles were employed as a photocatalytic agent, achieving up to 57 % degradation of Methylene Blue dye within 50 min, demonstrating their environmental remediation potential. These results establish S. trilobatum -mediated ZnO NPs as a promising multifunctional nanomaterial for biomedical and photocatalytic applications.