Publication

Abstract : Nanocrystalline ZnO (n-ZnO) particles are synthesized by in-situ sol-gel method, stabilized using sodium alginate (SA) polymer and impregnated into bentonite (Bt) clay matrix by one pot synthesis. Different nanocomposites of n-ZnO are prepared by alkaline hydrolysis of zinc acetate as precursor by varying the concentration of sodium hydroxide. The effect of Bt on the characteristics of n-ZnO was studied. The average particle size of n-ZnO was calculated to be 14-23 nm by XRD analysis which is matching with the TEM values. TEM images clearly showed the influence of Bt on the shape of particles in which 45SA showed ZnO nanorods due to the stabilization effect of SA. Whereas, spherical ZnO nanoparticles are exhibited by 45SA-Bt due the restriction of n-ZnO growth by the interlayers of Bt. We found that the nanocomposites exhibited excellent bacterial resistance towards both Gram negative (E. coli) and Gram positive (S. aureus) bacteria. The bacterial resistance of nanocomposites is slightly more than that of pure n-ZnO. The results of this study proved that the synthesized n-ZnO and its nanocomposites can be used for various application such as antibacterial, semiconducting etc.