{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T06:30:58Z","timestamp":1793082658700,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":83,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777507200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    This study reports a low-temperature green route for producing sunlight-active zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using almond peel extract as the sole complexing and stabilizing medium and evaluates their performance toward Congo red (CR) removal from water. UV-visible analysis of the synthesized material shows a near UV absorption edge at 373\u2009nm with an optical band gap energy of 3.32\u2009eV. The photocatalyst possesses a mesoporous texture with a specific surface area of 31.89 m\n                    <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                    \/g and a mean pore diameter of 9.8\u2009nm. FESEM reveals hierarchical flower-like assemblies composed of radially oriented ZnO rods, supported by EDS, confirming Zn and O as the dominant elements. XRD verifies phase-pure hexagonal wurtzite ZnO structures with a mean crystallite size of 39.24\u2009nm. FTIR and XPS confirm ZnO formation and a phytochemical-derived surface overlayer containing hydroxyl, carbonyl, and aromatic functionalities, together with surface hydroxyls and chemisorbed oxygen. Photoluminescence indicates near-band-edge emission and defect-related visible bands consistent with oxygen vacancy and zinc-related trap states. Under natural sunlight (CR: 25\u2009mg\/L; catalyst dosage: 5\u201315\u2009mg\/100\u2009mL; irradiation time 270\u2009min), the material achieved 51.61 to 82.21% degradation and followed pseudo-first-order behaviour. Scavenger studies revealed that O\n                    <jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub>\n                    \u2022\n                    <jats:sup>\u2212<\/jats:sup>\n                    radicals are the dominant reactive species in dye degradation, with photogenerated h\n                    <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                    playing a secondary role and \u2022OH contributing minimally. Also, the ZnO nanoparticles exhibited good reusability, retaining over 83.64% of their initial photocatalytic activity after four cycles under sunlight irradiation. Thus, almond peel-derived ZnO offers a simple strategy to valorize an agricultural residue into a sunlight-responsive photocatalyst for treating dye-contaminated wastewater.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0345449","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T17:26:15Z","timestamp":1777569975000},"page":"e0345449","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Phytochemical directed synthesis of flower-like ZnO nanostructures from almond peel extract for sunlight-activated congo red degradation"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3276-5414","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sujesh","family":"Sudarsan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jonas","family":"Van Caeneghem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ramesh","family":"Vinayagam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3170-7899","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Raja","family":"Selvaraj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0345449.ref001","article-title":"Kinetic studies of Congo red dye adsorption by immobilized Aspergillus niger on alginate","volume":"11","author":"MTMH Hamad","year":"2021","journal-title":"Appl Water Sci"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0345449.ref002","article-title":"Biological and photocatalytic degradation of congo red, a diazo sulfonated substituted dye: a review","volume":"233","author":"RRM Khan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Water Air Soil 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