Electrochemical and photocatalysis applications of green synthesized zirconia ceramics modified by cucumber seeds

Dye pollution in water sources presents a considerable risk to environmental and public health, requiring efficient cleanup solutions. Nanomaterial-based technologies have become viable ways to get rid of dye pollution because they are more selective, efficient, and long-lasting than older methods. This research investigates the synthesis of tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO
2
) nano ellipses reinforced with cucumber seeds via a rapid and economical sol-gel technique. Cucumber seeds are used to stabilize, reduce, and capping material. The effect of cucumber seed powder (ranging from 0.1 g to 0.5 g) on the phase stabilization and morphological characteristics of the resulting ZrO
2
nanostructures was systematically investigated using various analytical techniques (X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL), UV-Vis, Raman). Notably, the use of cucumber seed powder facilitated the stabilization of the t-ZrO
2
phase without any subsequent heat treatment confirmed by XRD and RAMAN. Synthesized t-ZrO
2
employed for photocatalytic and electrochemical capabilities against crystal violet degradation and supercapacitor electrode applications. Field emission (FE)-SEM shows the formation of ZrO
2
nano ellipses (100-150 nm diameter, 200 nm length). The nano ellipses synthesized at 0.5 g demonstrated superior performance, achieving 92% degradation of Crystal Violet under UV irradiation and exhibiting a high specific capacitance of 21.17 F/g (at 3 mVs
-1
), highlighting the potential of this sustainable synthesis route for high-performance applications.