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Antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles prepared via non-hydrolytic solution route

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The antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles has been investigated and presented in this paper. Nanoparticles were prepared via non-hydrolytic solution process using zinc acetate di-hydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O) and aniline (C6H5NH2) in 6 h refluxing at ∼65 °C. In the presence of four pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, the antibacterial study of zinc oxide nanoparticles were observed. The antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were studied by spectroscopic method taking different concentrations (5–45 μg/ml) of ZnO-NPs. Our investigation reveals that the lowest concentration of ZnO-NPs solution inhibiting the growth of microbial strain is found to be 5 μg/ml for K. pneumoniae, whereas for E. coli, S. aureus, and S. typhimurium, it was calculated to be 15 μg/ml. The diameter of each ZnO-NPs lies between “20 and 30 nm” as observed from FESEM and transmission electron microscopy images. The composition of synthesized material was analyzed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and it shows the band of ZnO at 441 cm−1. Additionally, on the basis of morphological and chemical observations, the chemical reaction mechanism of ZnO-NPs was also proposed.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support received from KOSEF (Korea Science and Engineering Foundation); research grant no. R01-2007-000-20810-0 is fully acknowledged. We would also like to thank Mr. Kang Jong-Gyun, Center for University-wide Research Facilities, Chonbuk National University for his cooperation in Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) observations and the KBSI (Korea Basic Science Institute), Jeonju branch, for letting us use their FESEM facility.

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Correspondence to Hyung-Shik Shin.

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Wahab, R., Mishra, A., Yun, SI. et al. Antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles prepared via non-hydrolytic solution route. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 87, 1917–1925 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2692-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2692-2

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