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Abstract

The need to synthesise metal nanoparticles has emerged in recent years due to their wide range of applications in various biological activities. This study reports a facile and rapid synthesis of biogenic lanthanum nanoparticles using Polygonum minus leaf extract as reducing agent. The reduction of La+3 to elemental La rapidly occured and was completed within 10 minutes at room temperature. Moreover, the size of nanoparticles is higly sensitive to leaf extract concentration and pH. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR), energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDX), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and UV-Visible (Uv-Vis) spectroscopy. The FTIR analysis of the La2O3 NPs confirmed the presence of characteristic La-O band at 614 cm-1. The band of La2O3 NPs was observed in the range of 300-400 nm in Uv-Vis spectrum, which further affirmed its successful synthesis. The EDAX analysis confirmed the presence of La in the produced nanoparticles. FESEM showed them as elongated rod-like structure with a uniform particle size of about 343 nm, determined by image J software and confirming their rod-like morphology. The virtual broad band in the XRD pattern revealed the lack of a periodic crystal structure, implying that the produced nanoparticles were entirely amorphous. The TG-DTA results showed their thermal stability. Further, the nanoparticles were subjected to antioxidant activity using DPPH assay. The results revealed that La2O3 NPs exhibited 28.3% inhibition. The synthesized nanoparticles open new frontiers for various other biological applications.