Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2015, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (11): 1407-1413.DOI: 10.1007/s40195-015-0340-7

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles    

Enhancing the Antibacterial Efficiency of ZnO Nanopowders Synthesized by Combustion Method Through Ag + Fe Co-doping

P. Sathish1, K. Ravichandran1(), B. Sakthivel1, A. Panneerselvam2   

  1. 1 Post Graduate and Research Department of Physics, AVVM Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu 613 503, India
    2 Post Graduate and Research Department of Botany and Microbiology, AVVM Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu 613 503, India;
  • Received:2015-08-26 Revised:2015-10-30 Online:2015-11-23 Published:2015-11-20

Abstract:

(Ag + Fe)-doped ZnO nanopowders have been synthesized using combustion method. Ag doping level was kept as 2 at.%, and Fe doping level was varied from 3 to 6 at.%, and the structural, optical, surface morphological, and antibacterial properties have been investigated. The structural studies show that ZnO/(Ag + Fe) nanopowders have hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferential orientation along the (101) plane. The FE-SEM images indicate that there is a gradual decrease in the grain size with the increase in the doping level of Fe, and the TEM images are correlated well with FE-SEM images. The XPS profile clearly confirms the presence of expected elemental composition. Photoluminescence studies reveal the presence of extrinsic defects in the material. Antibacterial activity of Ag- and Fe-doped ZnO nanopowders against Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio Cholerae, and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria was also investigated.

Key words: ZnO/Ag/Fe nanopowders, Combustion route, SEM, TEM, Antibacterial activities