Abstract
This work reports the characterisation and larvicidal effects of two ZnO nanoparticle types towards Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) larvae. ZnO-AG (as-grown ZnO produced by gas-phase synthesis) and ZnO-BM (ball-milled for one week) were the two types of ZnO nanoparticles. ZnO-AG and ZnO-BM were characterised for structural, optical, and morphology properties by XRD, UV–vis, and FESEM, respectively. The colloidal nanoparticles were centrifuged and dried for the ZnO-BM sample before the bioassay procedure was performed on the third instar Ae. aegypti larvae. Bioassay procedures were done following WHO standards for both samples. The results revealed that ZnO-BM had a smaller crystallite size (34.88 nm) and higher EDX O: Zn ratio (0.831) compared to that of ZnO-AG (crystallite size 47.4 nm and 0.675 of O: Zn EDX ratio). Moreover, bioassay results showed ZnO-BM has lower LC50 (48.6 mg/L) compared to ZnO-AG (73.47 mg/L), which suggested the stronger toxicity of the ball-milled sample toward Ae. aegypti larvae. The higher mortality rate of the ZnO-BM sample can be attributed to its larger surface area-to-volume ratio that led to enhanced ROS (reactive oxygen species) generation and increased zinc dissolution that caused internal organ damage inside the Aedes larvae.
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