eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Material Science Research India 0973-3469 2026-07-01 23 2 24215 article Akanksha Tiwari 1 Neelam 1 Devendra Kumar 1 Department of Chemistry, Institute of Basic Sciences, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Khandari Campus, Agra, India This research focuses on creating a more effective and dependable approach for generating zinc oxide nanoparticles from eco-friendly green tea (Camellia sinensis) leaf extract using a microwave synthesizer. Optical properties were studied using UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy while HR-TEM indicates size reduction. Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray confirmed the formation of hexagonal rod-like morphology of nanoparticles, while EDAX results provided the chemical composition of the NPs. X-Ray Diffraction results indicated that ZnO nanoparticles showed sizes ranging from 7.56-35.67 nm, which are in good agreement with HRTEM results. Their antibacterial property was evaluated in vitro against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae using the disk diffusion method, revealing strong inhibitory effects. In addition, ZnO nanoparticles demonstrated excellent UV-induced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue, achieving 97% degradation within 70 minutes. Kinetic analysis revealed that the degradation process closely followed the pseudo-first-order model, highlighting the potential of ZnO as an environmentally benign catalyst for dye wastewater remediation. https://www.materialsciencejournal.org/vol23no2/green-and-rapid-approach-for-the-synthesis-of-zno-nanoparticles-with-photocatalytic-and-antibacterial-studies/ Antibacterial activity Eco-friendly Microwave synthesis Photocatalytic study ZnO nanoparticles