Pooja Jaiswal
University of Mumbai, India
Title: Morphological dependence of ZnO nanostructures on antibacterial activity
Biography
Biography: Pooja Jaiswal
Abstract
Morphological dependence of ZnO nanostructures on antibacterial activity: ZnO nanostructures with different morphologies (dumbbell, needles, petals, etc) were synthesized using chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique by varying the parameters like molar concentrations of Zn2+/OH- and the pH value of the solution. Synthesized ZnO nanostructures were characterized structurally using XRD, SEM, TEM and optically using UV-spectrophotometer and Photoluminescence (PL) techniques. Morphological dependence of ZnO nanostructures on its antibacterial activity was studied using a gram negative bacterium Escherichia coli as a model microorganism. The antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles was tested by spread plate method and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined. The antibacterial activity was found to depend strongly on the morphology of the nanostructures used. Unique nano sized petal shaped ZnO structures showed maximum antibacterial activity as compared to the other structures. The rupture/disruption of the bacterial cells after nanoparticle treatment was investigated by environmental SEM. The morphology-dependent antibacterial activity of ZnO observed in our case could be due to the higher surface-to-volume ratio of petal shape, specific surface area, surface modifications as well as defects associated with the nanostructures used