Elucidation of photocatalysis, photoluminescence and antibacterial studies of ZnO thin films by spin coating method

K Kaviyarasu; C Maria Magdalane; K Kanimozhi; J Kennedy; B Siddhardha; E Subba Reddy; Naresh Kumar Rotte; Chandra Shekhar Sharma; F T Thema; Douglas Letsholathebe; Genene Tessema Mola; M Maaza

doi:10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2017.06.026

Elucidation of photocatalysis, photoluminescence and antibacterial studies of ZnO thin films by spin coating method

J Photochem Photobiol B. 2017 Aug:173:466-475. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2017.06.026. Epub 2017 Jun 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanoscience's/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Group (MRG), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Electronic address: kavi@tlabs.ac.za.
² Department of Chemistry, St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Tirunelveli 627002, India; LIFE, Department of Chemistry, Loyola College (Autonomous), Chennai 600034, India.
³ PG Research & Department of Chemistry, Auxilium College (Autonomous), Vellore, India.
⁴ UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanoscience's/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
⁵ Department of Microbiology School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605014, India.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Andhra Loyola College (Autonomous), Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh 520008, India.
⁷ Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Kandi, Telangana 502285, India.
⁸ UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanoscience's/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Group (MRG), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa.
⁹ Department of Physics, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana.
¹⁰ School of Chemistry and Physics, University of Kwazulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

PMID: 28668515
DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2017.06.026

Abstract

The ZnO thin films have been prepared by spin coating followed by annealing at different temperatures like 300°C, 350°C, 400°C, 450°C, 500°C & 550°C and ZnO nanoparticles have been used for photocatalytic and antibacterial applications. The morphological investigation and phase analysis of synthesized thin films well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Photoluminescence (PL), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Raman studies. The luminescence peaks detected in the noticeable region between 350nm to 550nm for all synthesized nanosamples are associated to the existence of defects of oxygen sites. The luminescence emission bands are observed at 487nm (blue emission), and 530nm (green emission) at the RT. It is observed that there are no modification positions of PL peaks in all ZnO nanoparticles. In the current attempt, the synthesized ZnO particles have been used photocatalytic and antibacterial applications. The antibacterial activity of characterized samples was regulated using different concentrations of synthesized ZnO particles (100μg/ml, 200μg/ml, 300μg/ml, 400μg/ml, 500μg/ml and 600μg/ml) against gram positive and gram negative bacteria (S. pnemoniae, S. aureus, E. coli and E. hermannii) using agar well diffusion assay. The increase in concentration, decrease in zone of inhibition. The prepared ZnO morphologies showed photocatalytic activity under the sunlight enhancing the degradation rate of Rhodamine-B (RhB), which is one of the common water pollutant released by textile and paper industries.

Keywords: Antibacterial studies; Photocatalytic; Photoluminescence; Thin films; Zinc oxide.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemical synthesis
Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
Catalysis
Coated Materials, Biocompatible / chemistry*
Coated Materials, Biocompatible / pharmacology
Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Tests
Gram-Negative Bacteria / radiation effects
Gram-Positive Bacteria / radiation effects
Luminescent Measurements
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Photolysis / radiation effects
Rhodamines / chemistry
Sunlight
Zinc Oxide / chemistry*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Coated Materials, Biocompatible
Rhodamines
rhodamine B
Zinc Oxide