Eco-friendly synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles from Cocos nucifera for improved photocatalytic and antimicrobial applications

Sep 30, 2026

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TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using Cocos nucifera pollen extract via an eco-friendly green approach and assessed for multifunctional performance. XRD confirmed a crystallite size of 17.4 nm, while HRTEM revealed particle sizes from 5 to 100 nm. The biogenic TiO2 NPs strongly degraded methylene blue, reaching 97.8% under sunlight and 98.5% under UV within 180 min. They also showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, plus biofilm inhibition rates of 86.57% and 70.34%, supporting potential wastewater treatment and antimicrobial use.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Nanobiotechnology and nanomaterial applications

Green synthesis of nanoparticles and TiO2 photocatalysis

Prior work and research gaps (antibacterial/antibiofilm under UV and sunlight)

Tamilselvi et al. Discover Nano (2026) 21:4 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-025-04426-0](https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-025-04426-0) Discover Nano RESEARCH Open Access Eco-friendly synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles from Cocos nucifera for improved photocatalytic and antimicrobial applications Yuvaraj Tamilselvi1, Kanagasabapathy Sivasubramanian1, Loganathan Lingeshwaran 1, Palanivel Velmurugan1*, Anurag Sureshbabu1, Vanga Dharma Teja1, Kishore Kumar1, Jeyanthi Rebecca Livingstone1, Anbuselvi Stalin Selvaraj1, Devasagaya Daisy1 and Sivanraju Rajkumar2,3* *Correspondence: Palanivel Velmurugan [palanivelmurugan2008@gmail.com](palanivelmurugan2008@gmail.com)[ ](palanivelmurugan2008@gmail.com)Sivanraju Rajkumar [rajkumar@hu.edu.et](rajkumar@hu.edu.et) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Abstract TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using Cocos nucifera pollen extract through an eco-friendly green approach and evaluated for their multifunctional properties. XRD confirmed a crystallite size of 17.4 nm, while HRTEM showed particle sizes ranging from 5 to 100 nm. The biogenic TiO2 NPs exhibited strong photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue, achieving 97. 8% efficiency under sunlight and 98. 5% under UV within 180 min. They also demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (23 .0 mm) and Escherichia coli (29 .5 mm), along with biofilm inhibition rates of 86. 57% and 70. 34%, respectively. The study highlights the novelty of using Cocos nucifera pollen as a biogenic reducing agent and demonstrates the potential of the synthesized nanoparticles for wastewater treatment and antimicrobial applications. Keywords TiO2 nanoparticles, Green synthesis, Cocos nucifera, Antimicrobial activity, Biofilm inhibition, Dye degradation, Characterization 1 Introduction Nanobiotechnology has gained significant importance due to its applications in nanomedicine, drug delivery, immunology, biosensing, and environmental remediation [1–3]. Advances in nanotechnology have enabled the design of sustainable and targeted biomedical solutions through inorganic modification, organic reduction, and structural engineering. Despite this progress, comprehensive evaluation of nanoparticle toxicity and regulatory concerns remains essential before widespread biomedical use. Beyond biological applications, nanomaterials play a crucial role in environmental sustainability, food preservation, wastewater treatment, and pollutant monitoring. Their structural and functional characteristics are commonly studied using sophisticated analytical techniques such as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) [4], Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) [5], X-ray Diffraction (XRD) [6], and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) © The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Tamilselvi et al. Discover Nano (2026) 21:4 Page 2 of 22 Graphical abstract [7]. These tools offer critica

FAQs

How were the TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized in the study?

TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using Cocos nucifera pollen extract through an eco-friendly green approach.

What photocatalytic performance was reported for methylene blue degradation?

The biogenic TiO2 nanoparticles achieved 97.8% efficiency under sunlight and 98.5% under UV within 180 minutes.

Which bacteria and biofilm inhibition results were reported?

Strong antibacterial activity was reported against Staphylococcus aureus (23.0 mm) and Escherichia coli (29.5 mm), with biofilm inhibition rates of 86.57% and 70.34%, respectively.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by Jake