In the present work, bioaugmented zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were prepared from aqueous fruit extracts of Myristica fragrans . The ZnO-NPs were characterized by different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The crystallites exhibited a mean size of 41.23 nm measured via XRD and were highly pure, while SEM and TEM analyses of synthesized NPs confirmed their spherical or elliptical shape. The functional groups responsible for stabilizing and capping of ZnO-NPs were confirmed using FTIR analysis. The ζ-size and ζ-potential of synthesized ZnO-NPs were reported as 66 nm and −22.1 mV, respectively, via the DLS technique can be considered as moderate stable colloidal solution. Synthesized NPs were used to evaluate for their possible antibacterial, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antiparasitic, and larvicidal properties. The NPs were found to be highly active against bacterial strains both coated with antibiotics and alone. Klebsiella pneumoniae was found to be the most sensitive strain against NPs (27 ± 1.73) and against NPs coated with imipinem (26 ± 1.5). ZnO-NPs displayed outstanding inhibitory potential against enzymes protein kinase (12.23 ± 0.42), α-amylase (73.23 ± 0.42), and α-glucosidase (65.21 ± 0.49). Overall, the synthesized NPs have shown significant larvicidal activity (77.3 ± 1.8) against Aedes aegypti , the mosquitoes involved in the transmission of dengue fever. Similarly, tremendous leishmanicidal activity was also observed against both the promastigote (71.50 ± 0.70) and amastigote (61.41 ± 0.71) forms of the parasite. The biosynthesized NPs were found to be excellent antioxidant and biocompatible nanomaterials. Biosynthesized ZnO-NPs were also used as photocatalytic agents, resulting in 88% degradation of methylene blue dye in 140 min. Owing to their eco-friendly synthesis, nontoxicity, and biocompatible nature, ZnO-NPs synthesized from M. fragrans can be exploited as potential candidates for biomedical and environmental applications.

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Zinc sulphide (ZnS) and Tin-doped Zinc sulphide (Sn-ZnS) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by co precipitation method. The produced NPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD, EDX,SEM, FTIR, TGA and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. With the addition of 3% Sn the band gap of ZnS reduced from 3.50 to 3.10 eV. TGA study revealed that synthesized NPs are very stable to temperature and the total weight loss was only 22.8% and 21.5% in ZnS and Sn-ZnS nanocatalyst. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity showed that with Tin-doping the peak in Sn-ZnS shifted to longer wavelength. The degradation of Bromophenol blue over both catalysts followed first order kinetics. The activation energy calculated for the photodegradation reaction was 53.2 and 67.55 kj/mol using pure ZnS and Sn-ZnS NPs, respectively. About 86% and 96% dye degradation was noticed in 300 minutes. A high percentage of dye degradation was found at low concentration (10 ppm) and at optimal dosage (0.03 g) of the catalyst. The rate of Bromophenol blue dye degradation was found to increase with increase in temperature (up to 70°C) and pH (9.5) of the medium. Sn-ZnS NPs showed good antibacterial and antioxidant activities compared to bare ZnS. Both nanoparticles are found to be non biocompatible.

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Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and Holmium doped Titanium dioxide(Ho-TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through Sol Gel method. The synthesized NPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Photoluminescence spectroscopy. DNA binding, antibacterial, hemolytic and antioxidant assays of the synthesized nanoparticles were also carried out for finding their therapeutic applications. Successful doping of TiO2 with Ho reduced the band gap from 3.10 to 2.88 eV. SEM and XRD analysis showed that both TiO2 and Ho-TiO2 NPs exhibit tetragonal structure and as a result of doping the morphology of the particles improved and agglomeration reduced. PL emission intensity of TiO2 also reduced with doping.The holmium doped TiO2 were used for the first time against the degradation of Safranin O dye, DNA binding study and biocompatibility assay.The degradation of Safranin O dye over both the catalysts followed first order kinetics. The calculated activation energies for the photo degradation of given dye were found to be 51.7 and 35.2 kJ/mol using TiO2 and Ho-TiO2 NPs respectively. At 180 minutes time interval 84 and 87% dye degradation was observed using pure TiO2 and Ho-TiO2 NPs respectively. High percent degradation of dye was found at low concentration (20 ppm) and at optimal dosage (0.035 g) of both the catalysts. The rate of Safranin O dye degradation was found to increase with increase in temperature and pH of the medium. DNA binding study revealed that Ho-TiO2 NPs are more capable of binding to human DNA. Antibacterial activity study showed that Ho-TiO2 NPs were more efficient against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial strains as compared to pure TiO2. Hemolysis assay showed that TiO2 and Ho-TiO2 nanoparticles are non-biocompatible.Ho-TiO2 nanoparticles showed higher anti-oxidant activity as compared to bare TiO2.