Wheat straw extract as a green reducing agent for the synthesis of Copper, Iron, and Zinc nanoparticles

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Mosul, Iraq.

2 Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Mosul, Iraq

10.22103/jab.2026.27283.1924

Abstract

Objective
The current study aims to utilize wheat straw for the green synthesis of copper oxide (CuONPs), iron oxide (FeONPs), and zinc oxide (ZnONPs) nanoparticles, as well as to characterize the synthesized nanoparticles using Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), UV-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques.
Materials and methods
The eco-friendly and green synthesis of copper, iron and zinc oxide nanoparticles was done using wheat straw. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to reveal the structural properties of the synthesized particles, under the condition of Cu Kα radiation (wavelength λ = 1.5406 Å). The diffraction patterns were compared to standard data (JCPDS) to identify the crystalline structure of the resulting diffraction patterns. The crystallinity of materials was successfully identified using scanning electron microscopy associated with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and the optical properties of the prepared nanoparticles were obtained using UV-Vis spectroscopy in the wavelength range 200-800 nm.
Results
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum of the copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) confirmed the successful preparation of partially crystalline copper oxide, suggesting a mixed crystalline structure where the maximum peak is the one at about 43.3 degrees. The diffraction pattern of the iron oxide nanoparticles (FeONPs), however, revealed no sharp diffraction peaks and had a broad scattering, suggesting a low degree of crystallinity. Likewise, the diffraction pattern of the zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) did not show peaks with high crystallinity to zinc oxide but rather a broad hump-like diffraction pattern. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis confirmed the presence of the constituent elements of all the synthesized nanoparticles and the key elements that were being analysed were found. The synthesized nanoparticles should, however, be confirmed for their oxide nature with other complementary techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), detailed X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, or Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
Conclusions
It is concluded that these results give an idea for the sustainable production of nanoparticles using agricultural wastes. In particular, the results presented here illustrate how wheat straw extract can be used as an environmentally friendly reducing agent in the green synthesis of Cu, Fe and Zn nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis has shown that the oxide nanoparticles are crystalline in nature, and the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis has confirmed that the elements of which the oxide nanoparticles are composed are present.

Keywords

References

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Agricultural Biotechnology Journal

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Available Online from 03 July 2026

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