Impact of particle size and surface defects on antibacterial and photocatalytic activities of undoped and Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles, biosynthesized using one-step simple process. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Okeke, I.S.; Agwu, K.K.; Ubachukwu, A.A.; Madiba, I.G.; Maaza, M.; Whyte, G.M.; Ezema, F.I.
• Is Part Of: Vacuum. Volume 187(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Piper guineese -- Mg-doped ZnO nanostructure -- Surface defects -- Particle size -- Antibacterial and photocatalytic activities; Vacuum -- Periodicals; 621.55
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2021.110110
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0042-207X

Abstract

Abstract: One-step simple process was used to biosynthesis Zn1−x Mgx O (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) nanoparticles. Structural, morphological, optical, elemental and chemical composition of all the samples were explored with XRD, SEM, UV–vis, EDS and FT-IR spectroscopy respectively. The XRD results showed decrease in average crystallite size (51–37 nm), lattice constants "a & c", bond length and volume of unit cell, as well as increase in micro-strain and dislocation density as Mg content is increased from 0 to 5%. The energy band-gap increased from 3.30 to 3.40 eV with increment in Mg concentration up to 5%. The antimicrobial and photcatalytic results clearly indicated that Mg-doped samples improved bacterial inhibition zones and photocatalytic degradation efficiency. The observed improvement in antimicrobial and photocatalytic activities are attributed surface defect and larger surface area. The result implies that doped samples could be more effective in inhibition of bacterial biofilm growth on surfaces and photocatalyst detoxification applications. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: One-step simple process was used in synthesizing Mg-doped ZnO NPs using piper guineense leaf extract. Structural and morphological modification was notice in Mg-doped ZnO NPs. Sample with smaller particle size exhibited better antibacterial and photocatalytic activities. Samples with higher surface defects also showed enhanced antibacterial and photocatalytic activities.