Characterization of Aloe vera leaves and effect of pH variation on sol-gel synthesis of zinc oxide using aloe vera leaves

This research paper attempts to describe the nanotechnology field, physical of nanoparticles and a technique used of synthesis the zinc oxide, ZnO nanoparticles. The ultimate reason to synthesis zinc oxide, ZnO nanoparticles is that zinc oxide have a significant benefits for current industry due to their special characterization such as antibacterial, anticorrosion, has low electrons conductivity and excellent resistance. The objective of this study is to characterize the Aloe vera gel and Aloe vera skin leaf and make a comparison on the zinc content for both organic extract using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Next, the zinc oxide, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized from Aloe vera skin using a practical way and most eco-friendly method known as Green Synthesis. This study activity exploit the formation zinc nanoparticles from Aloe vera skin using zinc acetate dihydrate solution. Firstly, the leaves was extracted and prepared by thoroughly washed and finely cut. Then, the leaves was boiled with deionized water in a medium flame. The resulting product was ground to get a complete extract. The solution was boiled again for 10 minutes, filtered, and stored in refrigerator for further used. In the second process to prepare the extraction from Aloe vera gel, the inner gel portion were extracted, crushed, and ground into thin paste by adding enough deionized water and filtered using fine mesh. Both of these extract then were treated using chemical precursor, zinc acetate dihydrate. In a continuous stirring with the extract, sodium hydroxide, NaOH solution was added dropwise until pH reached to 7. The effect on varying the pH of 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 was studied. The mixture was placed under a continuous stirring at 180⁰C utilizing magnetic stirrer for about 2 hours. The solution was washed with ethanol and filtered. Then, the final residue obtained is put into an oven to obtained zinc oxide, ZnO nanopowder. Lastly, the characterization of zinc oxide, ZnO nanoparticles was analysed by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).