Abstract

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SILVER DOPED ZINC OXIDE AND ITS ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY

N. Supraja*

ABSTRACT

The synthesis of silver-doped zinc oxide (CAg-ZnO) nanocomposite material was achieved using a simple chemical coprecipitation method, in which 0.2M zinc chloride and 0.001M silver nitrate coprecipitated with 25% ammonia solution by pulse mode dispersion using ultrasonicator. The obtained silvery white precipitate was dried overnight at 110°C in hot air oven, and the powder was collected. The resulted CAg-ZnO nanocomposite was structurally and optically characterized using various techniques. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern clearly showed the presence of crystalline CAg-ZnO particles. Further, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed the presence of Ag-ZnO nanocomposite at specific wavelengths. The RAMAN spectra used to identify the shifting of the CAg-ZnO peak. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM), The element composition was measured by EDAX and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis confirm that the synthesized CAg-ZnO nanocomposite material was truncated nanorod in shape and has 48 to 100 nm size in diameter. The antimicrobial activity of CAg-ZnO nanoparticles was investigated against Bacteria and Fungi present in drinking water PVC pipelines biofilm. In these tests, Muller Hinton agar plates were used and CAg-ZnO nanoparticles of various concentrations were supplemented in solid medium. As results, Fungi and bacteria growth inhibited at the high concentration of CAg-ZnO nanoparticles. These results suggest that CAg-ZnO nanoparticles can be used as effective growth inhibitors in various microorganisms, making them applicable to diverse medical devices and antimicrobial control systems.

Keywords: CAg-ZnO nanoparticles, Antimicrobial activity, Bacteria, Fungi.