Green Synthesis of ZnO Nanocomposites Using Wild Mentha pulegium Extract for Packaging Appilication

In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized using Wild Mentha pulegium extract without the use of chemicals and then embedded in chitosan biopolymer. The optical, structural and morphological properties of the prepared ZnO were investigated by various characterization methods including UV-vis, XRD, EDAX, FTIR and FESEM measurements. The average size of ZnO nanoparticles was estimated to be 45.4 nm using the Debye Scherrer equation. Also, X-ray diffraction result showed that the synthesized sample has a wurtzite crystal structure without any additional or oxide peaks and it is consistent with previous reports. According to the results obtained from the EDX-Map measurement, the presence of Zn in the structure that was synthesized using the extract was confirmed. Also, the prepared transparent and biocompatible polymer coating showed good antibacterial and UV filtering properties for packaging applications.