Characterization of Cr2O3 Nanoparticles Prepared Using Cauliflower Extract by Two Methods

Abstract

     Chromium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using cauliflower extract by two methods: simple chemical method and the sol-gel method. These technologies are  new, environmentally friendly and cheap. Cauliflower contains plant materials and biomolecules (chromium, phenols, alkalis, vitamins, amino acids, quinones, etc. (that convert chromium chloride hexahydrate (CrCl₃.6H₂O) into chromium nanoparticles. The plant extracts also act as diluents, stabilizers and anti-caking agents. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the size of the crystals decreased from (36.1 to 57.8) nm  using the simple chemical method to (13.31 to 20.68) nm of Cr₂O₃ using sol-gel. The  scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that  Cr₂O₃ NPs of the simple chemical method were Nano layers with (130.3) nm,  while  the Cr₂O₃ NPs of the sol-gel method  were spherical or semispherical in shape with a particle size of (14.89 to 39.08) nm. The results  obtained have no matches in the reported literature.. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) showed that the band gap energy  of  Cr₂O₃ NPs  of the simple chemical method was 2.5 eV, while it was 3.4 eV for Cr₂O₃ NPs of the sol gel method . Cr₂O₃ NPs  of  high purity , small particle size, and large energy gap  were obtained from the  sol-gel method  This means that the NPs from the sol gel method were better than those of  the simple chemical method. The study revealed that the Chromium oxide nanoparticles synthesized using cauliflower extracts could be used as antibacterial agent for human pathogenic bacteria