ANALYZING ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ALUMINIUM DOPED ZnO THIN FILMS

Abstract

The two-step SILAR approach was used to create pure and Aluminium (Al) doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films. The structural, optical, and morphological properties of pure ZnO thin film and ZnO thin films doped with Al (1, 3, and 5) % were investigated. All the sample’s diffraction peaks were mapped to a hexagonal Wurtzite form. For the synthesized thin films, dislocation density, crystallite size, microstrain, and lattice parameters were calculated. Pure ZnO thin films have a spherical structure, while Al-doped ZnO thin films have a hexagonal-faced rod-like shape. The bandgap of the prepared thin film reduces with the rise in Al content. The occurrence of deep level and near band edge emissions were confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) investigations. The maximal zone of inhibition was studied using the Agar diffusion process on Gram-positive and Gram-negative (i.e., S.aureus and E.coli) bacteria. Pure and Al-doped ZnO both showed significant antibacterial activity. All the samples exhibit significant antimicrobial activity.