The Effect of Green Synthesis ZnO NPs on Sun Protection Factor of Sunblock Lotion

In modern times, there's a significant focus on green synthesis, which involves the environmentally friendly production of nanoparticles without using harmful chemicals or toxic solvents. This approach, popular in biological methods, has gained considerable attention. Leveraging natural sources such as plants and microorganisms is a common method for green synthesis. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) rank as the second most prevalent among metal oxides, largely owing to their affordability, safety, and simple production process. A sustainable method was employed to create these nanoparticles, which entailed extracting them from the (Lepidium sativum L.) plant along with zinc acetate dihydrate. The ZnO NPs underwent thorough characterization techniques to analyze their structure, surface morphology, and optical and chemical properties. The ZnO nanoparticles exhibited an average crystalline size of 26.78 nm, with FE-SEM confirming an average agglomerated nanoparticle size of 64 nm. Subsequently, varying weight percentages of these nanoparticles were incorporated into Sunblock Lotion to investigate their impact on enhancing the sun protection factor (SPF) of the lotion. The results demonstrated a noticeable increase in SPF with the higher concentrations ZnO NPs.