Abstract
The influence of precursor and solvent type on the structural and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized through co-precipitation technique was investigated. The phase formation of the samples was studied by x-ray diffraction which confirmed single phase hexagonal wurtzite nature of the samples. X-ray profiles showed that the particle size of the synthesized samples decreases with changing the precursor and solvent. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) confirms nanoparticles with an average crystallite size 13-32 nm with different precursors and solvents. The energy-dispersive x-ray analysis showed purity of samples as no unwanted element was traced in the prepared nanomaterials. The energy gap determined by fluorescence depends on the type of the solvent and precursor, and its values were reordered in the range 3.33-3.62 eV. For studying the thermal stability of the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles, a thermal analysis was carried out using thermogravimetric and the differential scanning calorimetry. For antibacterial activity, the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles are strongly antimicrobial as they successfully inhibited the growth of the tested micro-organisms.